Determination of Carbon Dioxide Concentration in CO2 Supplemental Greenhouse for Tomato Cultivation during Winter and Spring Seasons

This study was aimed to determine the changes in CO₂ concentration according to the temperatures of daytime and nighttime in the CO₂ supplemental greenhouse, and to compare calculated supplementary CO₂ concentration during winter and spring cultivation seasons. CO₂ concentrations in experimental greenhouses were analyzed by selecting representative days with different average temperatures due to differences in integrated solar radiation at the growth stage of leaf area index (LAI) 2.0 during the winter season of 2022 and 2023 years. The CO₂ concentration was 459, 299, 275, and 239 µmol·mol⁻¹, respectively at 1, 2, 3, and 4 p.m. after the CO₂ supplementary time (10:00-13:00) under the higher temperature (HT, > 18℃ daytime temp. avg. 31.7, 26.8, 23.8, and 22.4℃, respectively), while it was 500, 368, 366, 364 µmol·mol⁻¹, respectively under the lower temperature (LT, < 18℃ daytime temp. avg. 22.0, 18.9, 15.0, and 13.7℃, respectively), indicating the CO₂ reduction was significantly higher in the HT than that of LT. During the nighttime, the concentration of CO₂ gradually increased from 6 p.m. (346 µmol·mol⁻¹) to 3 a.m. (454 µmol·mol⁻¹) in the HT with a rate of 11 µmol·mol⁻¹ per hour (240 tomatoes, leaf area 330m²), while the increase was very lesser under the LT. During the spring season, the CO₂ concentration measured just before the start of CO₂ fertilization (7:30 a.m.) in the CO₂ enrichment greenhouse was 3-4 times higher in the HT (>15℃ nighttime temperature avg.) than that of LT (< 15℃ nighttime temperature avg.), and the calculated amount of CO₂ fertilization on the day was also lower in HT. All the integrated results indicate that CO₂ concentrations during the nighttime varies depending on the temperature, and the increased CO₂ is a major source of CO₂ for photosynthesis after sunrise, and it is necessary to develop a model formula for CO₂ supplement considering the nighttime CO₂ concentration.