Posted on 11/03/2011 4:03:50 AM PDT by 30Moves
Do the hot coals left over from a wood stove put in a metal bucket and left in my greenhouse give off CO2 or Carbon Monoxide or both?
I do this to keep the temp above freezing - the greenhouse is not completely air-tight - due to my inept construction it cannot be :) - so there is some fresh air getting in.
Will doing this kill my plants?
I have done research but still am unclear.
Plants do respirate, as well as do photosynthesis and carbon monoxide is harmful for respiration in animals. But is it harmful for respiration in plants? I don’t know. Interesting question.
I believe most green plants take in CO2 and make Oxygen as part of photosynthasis....
I do not know how it is effected if CO is in the air...
CO (Carbon Monoxide) is from incomplete combustion, This is caused by not enough oxygen atoms. When carbon burns it wants to join with two oxygen atoms. This menage-a-tois is natural. If you starve the burning of oxygen you will get CO; actually you will get a mixture of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide as some carbons find two oxygens and come carbons find only one.
Your description of an air leaky construction leads me to believe that there is more than enough oxygen for complete burning. Plants will also not be harmed by a little CO.
If you really want to be safe, nuy a CO detector and let it check for you.
Charcoal give off Carbon Monoxide. Never burn it in enclosed places!
CO (Carbon Monoxide) is from incomplete combustion, This is caused by not enough oxygen atoms. When carbon burns it wants to join with two oxygen atoms. This menage-a-tois is natural. If you starve the burning of oxygen you will get CO; actually you will get a mixture of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide as some carbons find two oxygens and come carbons find only one.
Your description of an air leaky construction leads me to believe that there is more than enough oxygen for complete burning. Plants will also not be harmed by a little CO.
If you really want to be safe, buy a CO detector and let it check for you.
Your green house is not air tight therefore carbon monoxide cannot be contained.
Plants thrive on CO2. Without it, they die.
I have no clue what your bucket emits, maybe a little bit of heat which the plants will need in order to grow.... and you won’t have to knit them little sweaters.
Hot coals are still burning, so they are still giving off CO and CO2. Take a look at the coals when you put them in the bucket and when you toss them out. Has the mass of the coals changed? If so, the lost weight is Carbon that has been given of as Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide.
I would be cautious about this, because the CO can kill you pretty quick, if you are not careful. Don’t know about the plants.
(PS. You’re destroying the planet with those evil Greenhouse Gases, etc... Not really, but you ask 10 non-FReepers this question, and that is the answer you’ll get from nine of them)
The warning about charcoal and enclosed places is from the charcoal using the available oxygen to initially produce carbon dioxide and then producing both gases as the available oxygen is depleted. His description of a air leaky building leads me to believe that it would not occur here.
Sorry about the double post earlier.
Test it with a carbon monoxide detector.
Good point about CO and will it harm plants. My parents ran a greenhouse for years. They communicated with other green house operators often. They never heard of someone killing their plants with carbon monoxide. They heated with coal with a very old furnace so the opportunity would have arisen.
There have been volcanoes erupting continually since Earth existed each one discharging more GG in a day than all humanity does in a year.
The idea that CO2 destroys the planet is bizarre unless we understand the theory is agenda driven.
Depends on how leaky your greenhouse is.
Get a carbon monoxide detector and see.
Considering this is for a short period of time and the embers are cool in the morning, I wouldn’t think you’re doing much damage to your plants.
There have been volcanoes erupting continually since Earth existed each one discharging more GG in a day than all humanity does in a year. The idea that CO2 destroys the planet is bizarre unless we understand the theory is agenda driven.Haiku Guy was being facetious and I'm sure you know that.
It never hurts to post the truth.
What you just posted is the truth.
As an alternative to using hot coals to keep your greenhouse warm, you might try using large stones. Set them near your wood stove for a couple hours where they’ll absorb heat, then carry them out to the greenhouse where they’ll dissipate it slowly.
I mean, how would you feel if someone were cremating people in your house to keep you warm?
Plants only fix CO2 during the day, and excess CO2 during the night is of no benefit to them.
OMG - totally didn’t think of that.
But..I always remember not to feed my chickens, chicken.
Complicated question.
Forgetting the CO part which binds with oxygen carrying cells, let’s only talk about CO2.
Plants cannot use the CO2 without light to catalyze the photosynthesis. When plants aren’t converting CO2 to oxygen and sugar, they need to consume O2 to metabolize sugar and other nutrients in their systems.
You could ping the gardening folks! I know a lot of them are masters with gardening and many have green houses. I hope this helps or puts you in touch with some unbelievably knowledgeable people (not that the people on this post aren’t knowledgeable... it is just that some of the gardening folks have used green houses for years and years)
They're "into it."
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