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)
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.
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.
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)
Green plants absorb and use carbon dioxide in growth. Hot coals will not harm green plants. Carbon Monoxide is not used in the same way. It will not harm green plants even though it is not being used like CO2.
HOWEVER - CO & CO2 are dangerous to red blooded creatures. CO2 is not chemically poisonous but a sufficient concentration in air will smother a person. CO is a blood poison and chemically binds with hemoglobin (weakly) and prevents blood from carrying oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the organs. Be very, very careful with CO sources in enclosed spaces when people or animals are, or will be, in those spaces. Make sure that those spaces are properly ventilated when people or animals come into them.
Buy some rabbits and keep their cage in the greenhouse. Their body heat will keep it above freezing.
Hot coals are still burning...so they are putting out the same stuff a fire is.
; )
Glowing coals certainly produce CO! If you have a big pile of them, you can sometimes see a faint, ghostly blue flame over them, especially after fanning them. That’s CO burning. But that flame is easy to extinguish, such as when a pile of charcoal is spread out to cook meat. When that flame goes out, the CO is no longer burning, but it’s still being generated. Furthermore, even when you do see the blue flame, it isn’t necessarily true that ALL the CO is combusting into CO2. Be careful! CO is odorless, it doesn’t “smell like smoke.”