Indoor ona gel usage

[carl brutananadilewski]

I just got some ona gel how do you use it properly?

 

[dademurphy]

Just open it and out it in your grow area lol thats it

 

[carl brutananadilewski]

It doesnt seem that strong tho. Mabey ill be getting that fan to put on top.

 

[Rmj512]

hey be careful putting that ona stuff inside your grow room, I have no idea how true it is, but i came across some threads that guys said their buds tasted like perfume and across the board the common denominator was the ona gel, Ill see if i can find the thread again.

 

[Nabzter]

I use ona gel outside of the grow tent ... It is really only good as a secondary precautions. A Carbon filter is the main component you will never eliminate all smell without .

 

[carl brutananadilewski]

I just thought it would be stronger. Hmmm

 

[Think]

It doesnt seem that strong tho. Mabey ill be getting that fan to put on top.

Drill holes in the lid to make it last longer or take the lid off and put it by your exhaust outlet! Simples

 

[omnious]

I just thought it would be stronger. Hmmm

I thought it smelled too much if whole lid was off. So partially open and works, outside the tent still in same closet.

 

[bad dragon bzzz]

i found the gel to be a lil stronger smelling than the block,2nd time I looked at the gel it was all but gone.block defo lasts a lot lot longer.

 

[Son of Hobbes]

I've used ONA blocks, gels, and the liquid concentrates with some DIY projects. ONA is an essential oils product.

What are essential oils?

Essential oils are liquids extracted from plant matter by methods of pressing, solvent extraction, or steam distillation. The liquids are naturally occurring organic oils that come from things like seeds, leaves, and flowers to name a few. The oils are then redistilled or refined down to reduce unwanted materials in the final product.

Essential oils are made up of terpenes, esters (like ethyl acetate, the most common ester found in wines,) aldehydes (formaldehyde is an aldehyde,) ketones (fructose and acetone are examples of ketones,) phenols (like carbolic acid, a smelly phenol used for mild antiseptics,) oxides, and alcohols.

These oils also contain trace elements, which give the oils its character and enhance the ability to blend with other oils. These trace elements give the oils the unique characteristic ability of odor neutralization. When multiple trace elements are combined they work in synergy with each other which improves the effectiveness and range of application.

How do essential oils work?

Essential oils evaporate easily, infusing the air without leaving residue behind (highly volatile.) They do not react with odor causing chemicals/particles to remove them from the air. This means that unlike a carbon scrubber, they do not trap molecules and confine them. This also means they will do nothing for filtering out possibly hazardous chemicals/molecules (hopefully you are not working with anything that causes those in the first place.)

Essential oils are different than deodorizers (which just mask the smell.) Essential oils behave similar to a solvent. For example, picture the odor causing molecules as a solute (a component of a solution that is dissolved in the solvent.) The essential oils are diffused into the air through a method that optimizes absorption (process by which a fluid is dissolved by a liquid or a solid) and adsorption (process in which atoms, ions or molecules from a substance (it could be gas, liquid, or dissolved solid) adhere to a surface of the adsorbent.)

Things that affect absorption/adsorption:

• Surface area
• Contact time
• Particle size
• Temperature
• Concentration of both materials (oils and odor causing compounds)

The essential oils physically combine with the odorous material to form a new physical compound. The new combination should have no odor. That would be great if all conditions were 100% ideal, but certain odor molecules are heavier than others and are harder to neutralize (specifically in this case, hydrocarbons.) Many terpenes are hydrocarbons, but oxygen-containing compounds such as alcohols, aldehydes or ketones (terpenoids) are also found. That's not to say it won't neutralize the odors; just that those hydrocarbons have bigger boxing gloves on when it comes to combatting the odor molecules. The ultimate goal of the essential oil is to trick the human olfactory system (your sniffer) into not smelling something that is there. Success is based on not sensing any unpleasant odor in the air.

There are some things to keep in mind about essential oils. Not all essential oils are created equally. There are a very limited numbers of these oils effective for the process of odor neutralization. The effectiveness depends on how well the oils are chosen and blended to effect the correct chemical or physical reaction with odorous compounds. In short, this means you don't want to just start infusing just any essential oils into the air to try to combat marijuana odors. There are many essential oils that serve mostly as fragrances and used in perfume scents.

Personally, I've put the ONA gel quart jars right inside my grow tent on multiple occasions with absolutely NO adverse effects or smells on the dried/cured herb. I've dried quantities of herb in drying tents with ona jars in them, again, no effect on the buds.

So for me, after multiple grows with it, I personally find it to be safe to use. HOWEVER, to be fair and in full disclosure, another member on here, @wwwillie , stated that he had some issues with it with his plants, so it's possible that it's intermittent or case-by-case. It's a non-toxic green product (it's a concentrate though, so use common sense,) but if you want to err on the side caution, use it more for an exhaust application or in areas that you are worried smell may escape.

Essential oils seem to only bond with certain carbons/hydrocarbons and cannabis produces a lot of different terpenes/terpenoids, so it's entirely possible that depending on the strain you're growing, ONA may not be as effective as it would with other strains (which explains a lot of "hit or miss" stories on it if you ever Google it's effectiveness.)

Just my two cents brother