Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 3.11
Carbon dioxide generator capable of 48 cubic feet of CO
2
per
hour at 35,000 BTU. (Courtesy of Green Air Products, Inc., Gresham, Oregon.)
(Figure 3.12). One bucket will enrich the atmosphere of a room 10 × 10 ×
10 feet (1000 cubic feet) at levels of 1200 to 1500 ppm for a period from
60 to 90 days. After the CO
2
generating organic contents decompose over
time and release of CO
2
is reduced, the contents can be used as compost
and a new refill is purchased. The kit costs $120 and the refill $100.
Controllers, such as the Green Air Monitor/Controller, enables the
user to adjust CO
2
levels within 10 ppm within a range of 0 to 5000 ppm
(Figure 3.13). The monitor/controller will activate your enrichment system
whenever the level falls below a preset level and turn it off should that level
be exceeded. It also comes with a switchable photo sensor to turn off CO
2
production during darkness periods. This unit costs almost $700. There
are also CO
2
portable monitors (Figure 3.14) with a measurement range of
0 to 10,000 ppm that costs $700. Very inexpensive test kits that measure
from 300 to 5000 ppm cost about $20.
We have been discussing what environmental factors are required to
produce healthy plants. Now assuming that you have all of these compo-
nents for your plants under control, you now need to learn to care for the
plants themselves.
