CO2 Enrichment for Cannabis

Raising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in a cannabis grow room can help plants develop faster, grow healthy foliage and produce resinous, bountiful buds. Knowing how to increase CO2 and what amount would benefit your grow area for maximum harvest is essential.

Growers can implement many techniques to boost growth and terpene production. CO2 enrichment is an industry secret that helps companies produce large amounts of healthy buds and keeps plants strong throughout the stages.

Read on for more information on what CO2 enrichment is, how to use it and how to overcome some of the associated challenges.

Why Is CO2 Important for Cannabis Plants?

CO2 is a key component of photosynthesis. It allows cannabis plants to convert light into energy, which keeps the branches and buds strong and enables the plant to produce higher amounts of resin. Enriching the grow process with CO2 is one of the top cannabis cultivation techniques, allowing growers to create larger yields with potent, glistening trichomes and fewer duds.

Studies show that elevated CO2 concentrations can boost plant growth. Raising CO2 levels in the right stage of cannabis growth can spur foliage development, offer plants more protection and allow strains to reach their full potential.

What Are the Benefits of CO2 for Cannabis Cultivation?

Increasing CO2 concentrations in the grow area is the secret to maximizing yield in cannabis cultivation. When paired with strategies like sea of green and low-stress training (LST), CO2 enrichment can keep plants nourished and ensure each bud is coated in sufficient resin. Sturdy branches, stems and foliage are especially beneficial when the plants undergo LST or other forms of stress training to amp up bud and trichome production.

These benefits highlight the role of carbon dioxide in plant growth:

• Increased yield: CO2 enrichment can help plants develop bigger flowers and provide larger yields. Cultivators growing lower-yield strains can get the most out of the growth by enhancing CO2.
• Optimized environmental control: CO2 enrichment can contribute to the health of the overall environment. It helps cultivators increase CO2 levels in the air around the cannabis plants, which boosts photosynthesis and plant growth.
• Improved attributes: An increased availability of CO2 encourages plants to allocate their resources toward metabolites like terpenes and cannabinoids. These metabolites affect the aromas, therapeutic properties and flavors of cannabis.
• Increased speed: CO2 enrichment can increase growth rapidly and help cultivators deliver popular strains quicker, ensuring suppliers or dispensaries can provide the high-demand cultivars.
• Improved endurance: CO2 enrichment can help cannabis plants survive under harsh greenhouse conditions and droughts, which may be beneficial when growing complex strains and working in challenging environments.

Contact a Meritus Gas team expert for more information on how you can use CO2 to reap more benefits in your cannabis cultivation area.

How to Use CO2 to Maximize Cannabis Yield and Quality

Understanding the role of CO2 generators in cannabis plant development can inspire cultivators to enhance their growth with CO2. Knowing how and when to increase CO2 levels is crucial.

Cannabis plants go through three main growth stages — seedling, vegetative and flowering. During each phase, the plants have different needs for nutrition and CO2. The best stage to implement CO2 enrichment is the vegetative stage, when plants are actively growing new branches and foliage. Increased CO2 levels in this stage can help plants develop stronger branches and sturdier colas.

CO2 enrichment can also be helpful at the beginning of the flowering stage when buds are starting to form. Nourished, healthy plants produce bigger, juicier buds that reach their full potency levels.

Increasing CO2 levels during the vegetative and beginning of the flowering stage is beneficial for both male and female plants. Cultivators creating new strains can also benefit from CO2 enrichment when breeding new strains.

Steps to Use CO2 to Enrich Cannabis Plants

Cultivators can use CO2 to stimulate plant growth and deliver quicker, more prominent harvests. These steps are typically involved in enriching plants with CO2:

1. Find the suitable CO2 levels: Generally, an increase of ambient CO2 of around 800-1,000 ppm is the key to significantly boosting yield, but the amount may vary depending on the cannabis strain, grow room size and desired results.
2. Maximize light intensity: CO2 enrichment produces the best results when paired with higher light levels, which promotes more efficient photosynthesis. Most cannabis strains thrive under high light conditions anyway, so maximizing the light intensity won’t require too many extra steps.
3. Monitoring CO2 levels and other environmental factors: When utilizing CO2 enrichment, cultivators must monitor CO2 levels regularly to ensure plants don’t become stressed. They can adjust CO2 levels accordingly to enhance growth.

Speak to a Meritus Gas team expert about the steps you can take to incorporate CO2 enrichment in your unique cannabis cultivation business.

Challenges in Cannabis Growing

Enriching cannabis plants with CO2 can substantially improve growth, but growers must prioritize the role of sensors in cultivation. Elevated CO2 levels can cause an increase in temperature and humidity. It’s important to monitor relative humidity (RH) and temperature to ensure the particular cannabis strain has the required environmental conditions.

Provide adequate airflow when raising CO2 levels. Monitoring RH levels is particularly essential when working with plants that are prone to mold and mildew. Sufficient airflow also aids in even CO2 distribution within the grow area.

Another potential challenge is safety issues with high CO2 concentrations, which can be harmful to human health. It’s crucial to follow safety measures in grow rooms. One example is the OSHA CO2 exposure limit of 5,000 ppm for an eight-hour shift.

Contact Meritus Gas Partners for Reliable CO2 Supply Solutions

Understanding how CO2 fluctuations can positively affect grow spaces is crucial to obtaining a bigger, more potent harvest. CO2 enrichment in grow rooms provides plenty of advantages, and those interested in using this technique need a reliable partner to supply them with quality CO2.

At Meritus Gas Partners, we have a team of experts who can advise you on the best CO2 enrichments for your cannabis growth so your crops will yield faster and heavier. We are a national group of gas and welding supply distributors with an extensive network of suppliers that can help your company experience consistent results at competitive prices. We provide a wide range of gas products and grow house solutions like propane, ethylene and CO2.

Our experts can also help your business save money by finding the right combination of gases and products your company needs and offering them at unbeatable prices. Find a partner near you or contact us for more information on how we can help your cannabis grow room to flourish.