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Horticulturae
Special Issues
Optimized Irrigation and Water Management in Horticultural Production
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Optimized Irrigation and Water Management in Horticultural Production

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 November 2025 | Viewed by 1960

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Lijian Zheng

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Guest Editor
College of Water Resource Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Interests: water-saving irrigation; plant and soil; water diagnosis; stable isotope
Prof. Dr. Juanjuan Ma

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Guest Editor
College of Water Resource Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Interests: water-saving irrigation; water and fertilizer utilization; evapotranspiration; intelligent decision; water, carbon, and nitrogen use efficiency

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Optimized irrigation and water management is an essential aspect of horticultural production. With rising consumer expectations for crop quality, the focus of water management for horticultural crops is shifting from solely maximizing yield to enhancing both water efficiency and quality. In the past decade, rapid advancements in technologies such as sensors, crop growth models, water-retaining materials, machine learning, and large language models have significantly advanced the techniques for diagnosing crop water deficits, predicting water needs, forecasting consumption, and making irrigation and drainage decisions. However, there are still many basic theoretical problems that need to be solved urgently, including the following: The mechanisms for high precision and the multi-source perception of water deficit information in horticultural crops are still unclear; the water consumption characteristics and water-saving mechanisms of perennial crops during growth and non-growth periods under various irrigation methods are not well understood; the impact mechanisms of conventional and unconventional water supplies on crop quality have yet to be elucidated; and research into intelligent irrigation decisions based on crop models and deep learning requires further strengthening.

This Special Issue aims to highlight the latest advancements in optimized irrigation and water management in horticultural production including, but not limited to, the following topics: (1) novel water diagnostic methods; (2) quantitative characterization of crop evapotranspiration; (3) water quality relationships; (4) innovative irrigation methods for horticultural crops; (5) application of unconventional water in horticulture; (6) development of intelligent irrigation decision systems; and (7) new methods for soil water retention.

Dr. Lijian Zheng
Prof. Dr. Juanjuan Ma
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

  • irrigation
  • quality
  • evapotranspiration
  • soil water
  • water use efficiency
  • water diagnosis
  • intelligent decision

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 4605 KiB  
Article
Magnetized Saline Water Modulates Soil Salinization and Enhances Forage Productivity: Genotype-Specific Responses of Lotus corniculatus L.
by Aurelio Pedroza-Sandoval, Luis Ángel González-Espíndola, María del Rosario Jacobo-Salcedo, Isaac Gramillo-Ávila and José Antonio Miranda-Rojas
Horticulturae 2025, 11(4), 428; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11040428 - 17 Apr 2025
Viewed by 79
Abstract
Irrigation water salinity poses escalating threats to agricultural sustainability in degraded agroecosystems. This study has investigated the effects of magnetized versus non-magnetized saline water on the soil physicochemical properties and forage productivity of three Lotus corniculatus L. genotypes (salt-sensitive ecotype 232098, moderately salt-tolerant [...] Read more.
Irrigation water salinity poses escalating threats to agricultural sustainability in degraded agroecosystems. This study has investigated the effects of magnetized versus non-magnetized saline water on the soil physicochemical properties and forage productivity of three Lotus corniculatus L. genotypes (salt-sensitive ecotype 232098, moderately salt-tolerant San Gabriel, and salt-tolerant Estanzuela Ganador) in arid northern Mexico. A split-plot randomized block design with three replicates assigned saline water treatments (magnetized [MWT] vs. non-magnetized [NMWT]) to main plots and genotypes to subplots. After one year of irrigation, MWT significantly attenuated soil salinization, evidenced by 23% lower electrical conductivity (5.8 vs. 7.2 dS·m⁻1), a 26% reduced sodium adsorption ratio (6.2 vs. 8.4), and a 41% decreased sodium concentration (20.7 vs. 35.4 meq·L⁻1) compared to NMWT (p < 0.05). Although agronomic traits (stem dimensions, leaf area index, and rhizome proliferation) exhibited salt sensitivity from the third season onward, fresh biomass yield remained unaffected by water treatment. Genotypic differences dominated productivity. Estanzuela Ganador achieved superior biomass in both seasons (288.9 g/rhizome in fall; 184.2 g in winter), outperforming San Gabriel by 15.8% and ecotype 232098 by 56.8% (p < 0.05). These findings demonstrate that magnetized saline water irrigation effectively mitigates soil salinity progression, while genotype selection critically determines forage productivity under arid conditions. Estanzuela Ganador emerges as the optimal cultivar for saline irrigation systems in water-scarce regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimized Irrigation and Water Management in Horticultural Production)
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17 pages, 2158 KiB  
Article
Effects of Different Mulched Drip Irrigation Levels on the Soil Microorganisms and Yield of Greenhouse Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.)
by Jianglong An, Lijian Zheng, Li Ma, Xiangming Ma and Juanjuan Ma
Horticulturae 2025, 11(2), 204; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11020204 - 15 Feb 2025
Viewed by 537
Abstract
It is imperative to investigate the impact of irrigation on the microorganisms inhabiting soil in greenhouses, as this understanding is crucial for the implementation of effective water conservation strategies and optimal soil health sustenance in greenhouse tomato production. To this end, a tomato-cultivating [...] Read more.
It is imperative to investigate the impact of irrigation on the microorganisms inhabiting soil in greenhouses, as this understanding is crucial for the implementation of effective water conservation strategies and optimal soil health sustenance in greenhouse tomato production. To this end, a tomato-cultivating experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, with the control group receiving no planting or irrigation (W0), during the years 2021 and 2022 in the Taiyuan region of Shanxi Province, China. The experiment incorporated three irrigation levels: W1 (50–70% of the field capacity), W2 (60–80% of the field capacity), and W3 (70–90% of the field capacity). The objective of our study was to clarify the effects of different irrigation levels on soil bacterial and fungal community compositions and functions, as well as tomato yield and water use efficiencies, by analyzing the changes in community structural characteristics and potential functional composition of soil bacteria and fungi under different irrigation levels. Our results showed that in comparison with the control treatment, the W3 irrigation treatment exhibited the highest bacterial α-diversity, while its fungal diversity was the lowest. The r-strategy microbial community in tomato soil demonstrated increased abundance under the irrigation treatment. The relative abundance of common beneficial tomato bacteria increased by 0.32–1.70%, but that of beneficial soil fungi decreased by 0.09–3.75%. Among the different irrigation treatments, the relative abundances of Bacillus and Plectosphaerella changed the most. The functional structure of the bacteria in the irrigation treatment remained largely unchanged, while the saprotroph functional group of fungi was increased by 14.72–23.28%. With the increase in irrigation volume, the tomato yield of the W3 treatment increased, though the water use efficiency was not the greatest. The W2 treatment did not significantly reduce the yield, but it did increase the pathotroph functional groups of fungi, which may reduce the stress resistance of plants to soil-borne diseases. The findings of this study serve as a valuable reference point for the prediction of greenhouse soil health and the enhancement of tomato yields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimized Irrigation and Water Management in Horticultural Production)
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20 pages, 2034 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Mulching on the Root Growth of Greenhouse Tomatoes Under Different Drip Irrigation Volumes and Its Distribution Model
by Jiankun Ge, Yuhao Zhu, Xuewen Gong, Chuqi Yao, Xinyu Wu, Jiale Zhang and Yanbin Li
Horticulturae 2025, 11(1), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11010099 - 16 Jan 2025
Viewed by 888
Abstract
Despite the continuous development of greenhouse cultivation technology, the influence mechanism of covering conditions on the root distribution of greenhouse crops remains unclear, which is emerging as a significant research topic at present. The interaction between mulching and irrigation plays a key role [...] Read more.
Despite the continuous development of greenhouse cultivation technology, the influence mechanism of covering conditions on the root distribution of greenhouse crops remains unclear, which is emerging as a significant research topic at present. The interaction between mulching and irrigation plays a key role in the root growth of greenhouse tomatoes, but its specific impact awaits in-depth exploration. To explore the response patterns of greenhouse crop root distribution to the drip irrigation water amount under mulching conditions, the tomato was chosen as the research object. Three experimental treatments were set up: mulched high water (Y0.9), non-mulched high water (N0.9), and mulched low water (Y0.5) (where 0.9 and 0.5 represent the cumulative evaporation from a 20 cm standard evaporation pan). We analyzed the water and thermal zone of tomato roots as well as the root distribution. Based on this, a root distribution model was constructed by introducing a mulching factor (fm) and a water stress factor (Ks). After carrying out two years of experimental research, the following results were drawn: (1) The average soil water content in the 0–60 cm soil layer was Y0.9 > N0.9 > Y0.5, and the average soil temperature in the 0–30 cm soil layer was Y0.5 > Y0.9 > N0.9. (2) The interaction between mulching and irrigation had a significant impact on the distribution of tomato roots. In the absence of mulch, the root surface area, average root diameter, root volume, and root length density initially increased and then decreased with depth, with the maximum root distribution concentrated around the 20 cm soil layer. Under mulched conditions, roots were predominantly located in the top layer (0–20 cm). Under the film mulching condition, the distribution range of root length density of low water (Y0.5) was wider than that of high water (Y0.9). (3) Root length density exhibited a significant cubic polynomial relationship with both the soil water content and soil temperature. In the N0.9 treatment, root length density had a bivariate cubic polynomial relationship with soil water and temperature, with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.97 and a normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) of 20%. (4) When introducing the film mulching factor (fm) and water stress factor (Ks) into the root distribution model to simulate the root length density distribution of Y0.9 and Y0.5, it was found that the NRMSE was 22% and R2 was 0.90 under the Y0.9 treatment, and the NRMSE was 24% and R2 was 0.98 under the Y0.5 treatment. This study provides theoretical support for the formulation of scientifically sound irrigation and mulching management plans for greenhouse tomatoes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimized Irrigation and Water Management in Horticultural Production)
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