Reviews in Controlled Environment Horticulture

Frontiers in Horticulture is delighted to present the 'Reviews in' series of Research Topics. 'Reviews in' is a series being launched across Frontiers in Horticulture's sections which aims to publish high-quality review articles on key topics within the field. The goal of this series is to highlight recent advances across horticultural disciplines, whilst emphasising important directions and new possibilities for future inquiry. We anticipate the research presented will promote discussion within the broader horticulture community and translate to best practice applications in research, industry, and policy settings.Controlled Environment Horticulture (CEH) has emerged as a cornerstone of modern biomass production systems, enabling precise manipulation of environmental parameters to optimize productivity, quality, and resource efficiency. Encompassing greenhouses, vertical farms, and plant factories with artificial lighting, CEH supports a wide spectrum of cultivated organisms, including food crops (vegetables, fruits, herbs), medicinal and aromatic plants, species for bioactive compound extraction, ornamental and floricultural products, edible fungi, and microalgae, as well as urban and landscape applications such as indoor plants and green walls. Rapid advances in lighting technologies, climate control, soilless and substrate-based systems, and digitalization have expanded the capabilities of CEH. However, increasing system complexity and disciplinary fragmentation highlight the need for comprehensive and critical syntheses to consolidate knowledge and enhance the transferability of research outcomes into scalable and operational solutions.This Research Topic aims to provide a comprehensive and critical consolidation of knowledge across the full scope of Controlled Environment Horticulture by bringing together high-quality review articles that reflect the diversity of organisms, systems, and applications within the field. The objective is to move beyond descriptive summaries and promote integrative analyses linking organism physiology and performance with environmental control, technological innovation, and production outcomes. Particular emphasis is placed on identifying knowledge gaps, resolving inconsistencies in the literature, and defining future research priorities. The Topic also seeks to advance understanding of the transferability of technologies, methods, and findings across different CEH systems, species groups (including plants, fungi, and microalgae), and production contexts. By addressing applications ranging from food and bioresource production to ornamental, functional, and urban uses, this collection highlights the multifunctional role of CEH in addressing global challenges such as food security, sustainability, urbanization, and climate resilience.This Research Topic welcomes review papers only, including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and critical or narrative reviews with strong analytical depth. Submissions should address key aspects of Controlled Environment Horticulture across diverse systems, including greenhouses, vertical farms, plant factories (PFALs), and controlled cultivation platforms for plants, fungi, and microalgae, using soil-based, substrate-based, or soilless approaches (e.g., hydroponics, aeroponics, aquaponics, photobioreactors). Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, organism responses under controlled environments, optimization of light, climate, and nutrient delivery, sustainability and circular resource use, digitalization and automation (including AI and robotics), product quality (nutritional, functional, sensory, and bioactive traits), economic viability, and scalability. Contributions must provide critical synthesis rather than descriptive overviews, clearly identify knowledge gaps, and propose future research directions, with explicit consideration of the transferability of technologies and practices across systems, species, and regions. Interdisciplinary approaches integrating biological, engineering, and socio-economic perspectives are strongly encouraged. Topic editors: Silvana Nicola, Gilda A. Carrasco, Eduardo Pradi Vendruscolo Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82885/reviews-in-controlled-environment-horticulture