REVIEW article
Front. Hortic.
Sec. Controlled Environment Horticulture
This article is part of the Research TopicHorizons in HorticultureView all 5 articles
Current Status of lettuce production in soilless culture: Environmental conditions
Provisionally accepted
- 1DISAFA, University of Turin, Turin, TO, Italy
- 2Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agricultural Science and Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
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Lettuce is widely cultivated as a model crop in controlled-environment agriculture and has consequently been the subject of extensive research worldwide. Recent studies have predominantly focused on the effects of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), particularly light quality, intensity, photoperiod, and direction. In response to the development of artificial lighting technologies and the growing body of related research, this review synthesizes and evaluates studies published between 2012 and 2025 on the application of LED lighting in lettuce cultivation. In addition, research published between 2017 and 2025 addressing the effects of other key environmental factors, including temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, and air velocity, on lettuce growth, yield, and quality is critically reviewed. By integrating findings across these environmental variables, this review provides practical insights and reference ranges for optimizing lettuce production under controlled conditions and serves as a valuable resource for researchers and producers seeking to advance controlled-environment lettuce cultivation.
Keywords: Airvelocity, CO2 concentration, Lactuca sativa, LEDs, relative humidity, temperature
Received: 26 Dec 2025; Accepted: 12 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Sheikhi, Delshad, Profico and Nicola. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Silvana Nicola
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