One of the most important aspects when it comes to indoor cultivation is certainly the air treatment in the grow boxes. One of the most delicate issues to be dealt with in this area is the odours that are generated inside them.
Inside the grow room there is a constant flow of warm air, rich in humidity and various types of odours. Each of us perceives these odours in a subjective way, so that those that are pleasant to us may be annoying to others; it is therefore advisable to eliminate them so as not to run into problems in the neighbourhood.
How to eliminate unpleasant odours in the Grow Box
Among the various solutions for defeating odours in the grow box are:
Of these solutions, the most commonly used is certainly active carbon filters. One of their advantages is their convenience, as they are already designed to be attached to air extractors by means of flexible ducts to convey the flow to the outside.
These filters are made of chemically activated carbon and retain most volatile molecules (approximately 95% of organic molecules). Activated carbon filters are extremely porous and have a high number of active sites per unit volume, but after a certain time they become saturated and have to be replaced; the time it takes to replace activated carbon filters depends on the size of the grow room and the amount of volatile molecules present.
One parameter to check carefully when assessing the effectiveness of activated carbon filters is the humidity in the grow room. Plants prefer a humidity level of 70% RH, and at this level the effectiveness of activated carbon is lower. The solution for growers who want to achieve a perfectly odour-free grow box is to supplement this with an odour control gel/spray or ozone treatment (as listed above) or both.
Gel or spray odour treatments neutralise persistent odours by releasing pleasant aromas depending on the fragrance chosen. It contains a natural complex formula of essential oils based on terpenes, bio-molecules found in the resins of many plants. Once released into the air, they have the ability to attract and replace any organic odour molecules with their pleasant scent.
The last solution mentioned for preventing or taking action on odours in the grow box is ozonators. These produce negative ions and combine them with ozone to eradicate volatile organic gas molecules and pollutants such as pollen, dust, cigarette smoke and even vaporised substances such as aerosol propellants and car fumes. In high concentrations ozone can be toxic and it is therefore advisable to be very careful and make sure that the ozonator is switched off before entering the grow box.
In conclusion, the best advice for achieving our goal is to use all the tools we have at our disposal because only in this way, we can we be reasonably sure of permanently eliminating odours from our grow box without more or less unpleasant residues.