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Horticulturae
Special Issues
Advanced Technologies and Cultivation Strategies for Horticultural Crops in Protected...
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Advanced Technologies and Cultivation Strategies for Horticultural Crops in Protected Environment

A Special Issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524) belonging to the section "Protected Culture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 1951

Editors

Dr. Qianwen Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station, Mississippi State University, Crystal Springs, MS 39059, USA
Interests: organic agriculture; biostimulants; controlled environment agriculture; hydroponics; analytical chemistry; crop quality evaluation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Tongyin Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA
Interests: edible crop production; sustainable alternatives; season extension; fertilization; irrigation management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rapid urbanization is reducing arable land, while demand grows for locally produced, fresh, and high-quality horticultural produce. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) using high tunnels, greenhouses, vertical farms, and plant factories offers a viable solution. By enabling precise regulation of climatic and edaphic factors like light, temperature, humidity, gas composition, and nutrition, CEA can significantly enhance crop performance, yield, and quality to meet this critical need. This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive, interdisciplinary platform for the latest research, reviews, and case studies for horticultural crops in CEA.

We invite contributions exploring novel methodologies, technologies, and biological insights to optimize horticultural CEA production in crop yield, quality, resource-use efficiency, and economic viability. The scope includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  • Soilless cultivation and nutrient management;
  • Crop physiology and cultivar selection;
  • Climate, lighting, and environmental control;
  • Sensing, robotics, automation, and data analytics;
  • Implementing sustainable practices for climate resilience;
  • Systems integration, post-harvest science, and supply chain logistics;
  • Economic and sustainability analyses.

Submissions focusing on all horticultural crops, including vegetables, fruits, ornamentals, herbs, and medicinal plants, are encouraged.

Dr. Qianwen Zhang
Dr. Tongyin Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • greenhouse
  • hydroponics
  • plant physiology
  • precision agriculture
  • soilless cultivation
  • vertical farming
  • plant factory
  • high tunnel
  • protected cultivation
  • resource efficiency
  • biostimulants
  • photoperiod

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  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
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  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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30 pages, 7253 KB  
Article
Influence of Growing Media and Fertilizer Management on Strawberry Performance Under Tropical Greenhouse Conditions
by Ornprapa Thepsilvisut, Sukunya Pengsawang, Bhornchai Harakotr, Preuk Chutimanukul, Opas Trithaveesak and Jutamas Romkaew
Horticulturae 2026, 12(9), 1076; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12091076 - 30 Aug 2026
Viewed by 404
Abstract
This study evaluated the effects of growing media and fertilizer applications on greenhouse strawberry cultivars ‘Pharachatan 80’ and ‘US Jumbo’ using a 4 × 3 factorial in CRD with five replications. Growing media comprised sand (S), coconut coir dust (C), and cow manure [...] Read more.
This study evaluated the effects of growing media and fertilizer applications on greenhouse strawberry cultivars ‘Pharachatan 80’ and ‘US Jumbo’ using a 4 × 3 factorial in CRD with five replications. Growing media comprised sand (S), coconut coir dust (C), and cow manure (M) in varying ratios (1:1, 1:1:1, 1:1:2, and 1:1:3 v/v), paired with no chemical fertilizer (NCF), a half-recommended dose (½ RDCF), or a full recommended dose of chemical fertilizer (RDCF). Results revealed that unamended substrate (S:C = 1:1 v/v) under NCF severely constrained crop performance. Conversely, integrating cow manure with chemical fertilizers significantly enhanced vegetative growth and yield attributes. Specifically, S:C:M 1:1:1 v/v combined with ½ RDCF optimized total marketable yield, increased the proportion of Grade 2–4 fruits, and improved fruit quality across both cultivars. However, elevated temperatures in tropical lowland greenhouses constrained fruit enlargement, resulting in ≥70% Low-Grade fruits (<7.0 g). Correlation and principal component analyses confirmed that balanced root-zone management mitigates severe nutrient stress. Overall, S:C:M 1:1:1 v/v with ½ RDCF represents the most effective strategy for tropical greenhouse strawberry cultivation, although implementing microclimate cooling or exogenous biostimulants remains necessary to overcome high-temperature limitations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies and Cultivation Strategies for Horticultural Crops in Protected Environment)
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Review

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33 pages, 19070 KB  
Review
From Phenotyping to Supervised Agentic Decision Support: A Review of Sensing and Artificial Intelligence for Greenhouse Strawberry Cultivation
by Yu-Jin Jeon, So Jin Park and Dae-Hyun Jung
Horticulturae 2026, 12(7), 765; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12070765 - 23 Jun 2026
Viewed by 1146
Abstract
Strawberry greenhouse cultivation is increasingly supported by sensing technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and decision-support infrastructure, but their horticultural value depends on whether heterogeneous measurements can be translated into biologically meaningful crop states and practical management decisions. This review synthesizes strawberry phenotyping, multimodal sensing, [...] Read more.
Strawberry greenhouse cultivation is increasingly supported by sensing technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and decision-support infrastructure, but their horticultural value depends on whether heterogeneous measurements can be translated into biologically meaningful crop states and practical management decisions. This review synthesizes strawberry phenotyping, multimodal sensing, AI-based crop-state interpretation, and supervised agentic coordination as a phenotyping-to-action framework for greenhouse strawberry cultivation. The reviewed studies show substantial progress in measuring and interpreting vegetative, reproductive, fruit-quality, stress-related, and environmental crop states through imaging, spectral, environmental, root-zone, and modeling approaches. However, much of the literature still emphasizes measurement accuracy, model performance, or infrastructure capability, whereas fewer studies validate whether AI-derived outputs improve crop response, management decisions, workflow, resource use, or production outcomes. The review therefore distinguishes sensing technologies for data acquisition and measurement from AI-based methods for interpretation and prediction, and examines how crop-state information can be connected to practical greenhouse decision making. It also compares established decision technologies, including expert systems, model predictive control, digital twins, and closed-loop coordination, with supervised agentic coordination as bounded decision-support concepts rather than as evidence of unrestricted autonomous control. Future work should emphasize phenotype-to-action validation, domain-aware benchmarking, and supervised deployment studies that connect model outputs with decision rules, crop outcomes, operational constraints, and grower oversight. By grounding sensing technologies and AI-based interpretation methods in crop-response validation, strawberry greenhouse systems can progress toward supervised, crop-state-driven decision support. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies and Cultivation Strategies for Horticultural Crops in Protected Environment)
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