CO₂ Sensor Application Solution for Mushroom Cultivation

Mushrooms are nutritious and flavorful, forming an important part of daily diets. Most commercially consumed varieties—oyster, enoki, shiitake, and king oyster mushrooms—are now cultivated on a large scale. With growing consumer demand, mushroom farming is transitioning from traditional experience-based methods to data-driven, precise, and intelligent cultivation.

Maintaining a stable growth environment is crucial for yield, quality, and economic efficiency. Among various factors, carbon dioxide concentration is often overlooked yet plays a vital role in mushroom cultivation management.

Higher Requirements for Environmental Control in Large-Scale Mushroom Cultivation

China now cultivates over 20 types of edible mushrooms in large commercial greenhouses. Unlike outdoor crops, mushrooms are highly sensitive to temperature, humidity, light, and gas composition. Traditional management relies on experience, such as adjusting vents or watering schedules. While manageable for small-scale cultivation, this approach cannot ensure stable, high-quality production at scale.

Introducing agricultural IoT allows real-time environmental sensing and precise control, supporting increased yields and product consistency.

Three Core Environmental Factors Affecting Mushroom Growth

• Temperature

• Humidity

• CO₂ concentration

Different mushroom species and growth stages require varying environmental conditions. CO₂ concentration changes are not visible to the naked eye but can significantly affect mushroom morphology and growth rate.

Role of CO₂ in Mushroom Growth

Mushrooms consume large amounts of oxygen and produce CO₂ during metabolism. In closed or poorly ventilated greenhouses, CO₂ can accumulate, inhibiting growth. Common effects of excessive CO₂ include:

• Slower growth

• Premature aging

• Deformed caps (cauliflower-like)

• Overly long, loose stems

• Abnormal cap coloration, including blueing

These issues reduce product value and overall yield.

Hidden Risks of Excess CO₂

High CO₂ levels also pose health risks to workers, potentially causing dizziness, chest tightness, and reduced focus. Monitoring CO₂ is therefore critical for crop management, production safety, and occupational health.

Fundamental Approach to Managing CO₂ in Mushroom Greenhouses

The key is “timely detection” and “scientific ventilation.” Effective ventilation:

• Supplies fresh oxygen for mushroom growth

• Removes excess CO₂

• Simultaneously adjusts temperature and humidity

In extreme temperatures, incoming air can be pretreated to optimize growth. Continuous and accurate CO₂ monitoring is essential for scientific ventilation.

Agricultural IoT Enables Better Environmental Control

Integrating sensors with IoT allows mushroom growers to monitor greenhouse conditions in real time:

• Collect temperature, humidity, and CO₂ data

• Upload data to cloud platforms for centralized management

• View conditions remotely via mobile or PC

• Automatically adjust ventilation, humidification, and other devices

This reduces manual inspections and improves control accuracy and responsiveness.

Why CO₂ Sensors Are Essential in Mushroom Cultivation

CO₂ cannot be visually observed; sensors are needed for quantitative monitoring. CO₂ sensors:

• Track real-time greenhouse CO₂ trends

• Provide control data for ventilation systems

• Prevent quality loss from prolonged high CO₂

• Ensure worker safety

CO₂ sensors are indispensable components of environmental control systems.

Advantages of Nexisense Intelligent CO₂ Sensors

The Nexisense SGA-400/700 series is designed for agricultural IoT and environmental monitoring. Common industry challenges addressed include:

• Diverse gas types and incompatible interfaces

• Difficulty integrating different brands

• Complex calibration and high maintenance

• Limited replacement of core components

Platform design allows one system development to support multiple gas detection needs.

Smart Processing Ensures Stability and Reliability

• Signal amplification of imported CO₂ sensor

• Data processing and intelligent computation

• Full-range three-point temperature and humidity compensation

• Calibration with high-accuracy standard gas

This ensures compact design while maintaining precision and long-term stability.

Plug-and-Play Integration

• No on-site calibration required

• No complex adjustment needed

• Standard signals ready for direct use

• Outputs: 0–5 V analog and TTL digital signals, compatible with PLC, DCS, DDC, DAQ, and IoT terminals

This reduces IoT system development and deployment costs.

Applicable Cultivation Scenarios

• Edible mushroom greenhouses

• Mushroom room monitoring systems

• Agricultural IoT platforms

• Automated ventilation and environmental control systems

Platform design allows easy system expansion for future upgrades.

FAQ

1. Why monitor CO₂? Excess CO₂ inhibits mushroom growth and quality.

2. Does CO₂ affect all mushrooms equally? Tolerance varies by species and growth stage.

3. Can ventilation experience replace sensors? No, it cannot track real-time concentration changes.

4. Does Nexisense require on-site calibration? No, factory calibrated.

5. Can CO₂ data be viewed remotely? Yes, via IoT platforms.

6. Is the sensor suitable for continuous operation? Yes, supports long-term online monitoring.

7. Other applications besides mushrooms? Yes, agriculture, research, and environmental monitoring.

8. Is it easy to expand to other gases? Yes, SGA-400/700 supports rapid multi-gas expansion.

Conclusion

In large-scale mushroom cultivation, environmental control determines quality and economic returns. CO₂ is a key factor that must be continuously monitored and regulated.

Nexisense SGA-400/700 intelligent CO₂ sensors provide reliable performance, standardized interfaces, and system compatibility, offering a practical CO₂ monitoring solution that advances agricultural IoT toward precision and intelligence.