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Horticulturae
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Advances in Soil and Plant Nutrient Management for Optimizing Horticultural...
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Advances in Soil and Plant Nutrient Management for Optimizing Horticultural Crop Yields and Soil Sustainability

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 1259

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Željko Dželetović

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy (INEP), University of Belgrade, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: agrochemistry—investigations of soil fertility and mineral nutrition of plants; agriculture—investigations of methods, procedures of cultivation and use of biomass of second generation bioenergy crops
Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Simić

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: crop production; crops for animal nutrition; silage maize; grass production; hay; fresh biomass; grazing; grass seed production; forage quality; forage utilization; forage seed production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Optimizing horticultural crop yields requires continuous work in improving nutrient management. Horticultural crops require many essential nutrients for optimum growth, yield, and quality (such as N, P, K, Mg, S, Ca, and microelements). A crop’s nutrient uptake often varies, both by field and by year. Field variability is primarily due to different soil conditions, while annual variability is often a result of changing weather patterns. Therefore, nutrient management must be able to adapt to a number of variable parameters. On the other hand, the sustainable use of soil implies the preservation of its basic properties (e.g., fertility, structure, solum) during the cultivation of certain crops and the supply of crops with all nutrients. Significant progress has been made in soil and plant nutrient management in recent years. This Special Issue aims to review various innovative approaches to nutrient management, taking into account local specificities in achieving optimal yields and sustainable land use.

Dr. Željko Dželetović
Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Simić
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind 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 2200 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

  • horticultural crops
  • soil sustainability
  • plant nutrients
  • yield

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1569 KB  
Article
Data-Driven Optimization of Substrate Composition for Lettuce in Soilless Cultivation
by Ziran Ye, Lupin Deng, Mengdi Dai, Yu Luo, Dedong Kong and Xiangfeng Tan
Horticulturae 2025, 11(10), 1153; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11101153 - 25 Sep 2025
Abstract
Soilless cultivation has emerged as a sustainable solution for modern agriculture, yet substrate formulation is still often guided by empirical approaches, limiting efficiency and reproducibility. To address this gap, we established a data-driven framework for optimizing substrate composition in garden lettuce (Lactuca [...] Read more.
Soilless cultivation has emerged as a sustainable solution for modern agriculture, yet substrate formulation is still often guided by empirical approaches, limiting efficiency and reproducibility. To address this gap, we established a data-driven framework for optimizing substrate composition in garden lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) cultivation. Using a randomized design, 200 substrate formulations were prepared from peat, vermiculite, and perlite, and their effects on plant growth were evaluated under controlled environmental conditions. Peat content reduced substrate porosity and water-holding capacity, whereas vermiculite increased both properties (linear regression, p < 0.05). Substrate formulations profoundly affected plant biomass, and the peat content was identified as a key predictor. Two rounds of substrate optimization resulted in a significant increase in shoot and root biomass and chlorophyll content, with increases of 57.5% (p = 9.2 × 10−8), 89.8% (p = 8.24 × 10−10), and 43.3% (p < 2 × 10−16), respectively, compared with the initial trial. Additionally, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) and RGB imaging were employed for growth monitoring. Random forest machine-learning method identified several red-edge indices (NDVI705, mNDVI705, mSR705) as highly responsive predictors of substrate formulations, highlighting the potential of imaging traits as proxies for substrate optimization. This study provides a reproducible pathway for improving soilless substrate formulations, contributing to data-informed substrate design and advancing the practice of precision agriculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Soil and Plant Nutrient Management for Optimizing Horticultural Crop Yields and Soil Sustainability)
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18 pages, 1346 KB  
Article
Broccoli Cultivation Under Different Sources and Rates of Specialty Phosphorus Fertilizers in the Brazilian Cerrado
by Dinamar Márcia da Silva Vieira, Reginaldo de Camargo, Miguel Henrique Rosa Franco, Valdeci Orioli Júnior, Arcângelo Loss, Hamilton César de Oliveira Charlo, Fausto Antônio Domingos Júnior and José Luiz Rodrigues Torres
Horticulturae 2025, 11(6), 631; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11060631 - 4 Jun 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 782
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance and yield of broccoli grown under different sources and rates of specialty phosphorus (P) fertilizers in Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design arranged in a split-plot scheme, testing [...] Read more.
This study aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance and yield of broccoli grown under different sources and rates of specialty phosphorus (P) fertilizers in Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design arranged in a split-plot scheme, testing three P sources: (1) conventional monoammonium phosphate (CMP); (2) polymer-coated monoammonium phosphate (PCMP); and (3) organomineral fertilizer (Org). Four application rates were evaluated: 0 (no P applied), 50% (200 kg ha−1 of P2O5), 75% (300 kg ha−1 of P2O5), and 100% (400 kg ha−1 of P2O5) of the recommended phosphorus rate for broccoli, with four replications. The parameters assessed included plant nutritional status, soil fertility at harvest, number of leaves (NL), fresh head weight (FHW), dry head weight (DHW), and broccoli yield (YLD). In the first growing cycle, broccoli showed the highest NL (24), FHW (1.05 kg plant−1), DHW (0.27 kg plant−1), and YLD (18.81 Mg ha−1) values when PCMP was applied, which was 5, 25, 8 and 23% higher than Org and 20, 25, 14 and 34% higher than CMP. In the second cycle, broccoli showed higher values of NL (23), FHW (1.85 kg plant−1), DHW (0.26 kg plant−1), and YLD (33.01 Mg ha−1) where Org was applied, which was 4, 15, 8 and 5% higher than CMP and 2, 24, 4 and 14% higher than PCMP, respectively. All the variables evaluated showed the highest values at the 100% dose. Broccoli yield in the same area was 124%, 153%, and 115% higher in the second cycle compared to the first for CMP, PCMP, and Org, respectively. The greatest residual effect on soil fertility was observed in the area treated with the Org. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Soil and Plant Nutrient Management for Optimizing Horticultural Crop Yields and Soil Sustainability)
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