Plant-Driven Precision Irrigation in Aeroponics: Real-Time Turgor Sensing for Sustainable Lettuce Cultivation

Panagiotis Karnoutsos, Dimitrios Katsantonis, Anna Gkotzamani, Athanasios Koukounaras, Thomas Kotsopoulos, Xanthoula Eirini Pantazi () and Vassilios P. Fragos
Additional contact information
Panagiotis Karnoutsos: Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Dimitrios Katsantonis: Institute of Plant Breeding & Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization—DEMETER, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Anna Gkotzamani: Laboratory of Vegetable Crops, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Athanasios Koukounaras: Laboratory of Vegetable Crops, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Thomas Kotsopoulos: Laboratory of Agricultural Structures & Equipment, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Xanthoula Eirini Pantazi: Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Vassilios P. Fragos: Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 18, 1-31

Abstract: The narrow margin for irrigation error in aeroponics necessitates advanced control strategies beyond fixed timer-based approaches. This study evaluates a plant-driven irrigation method based on real-time leaf turgor feedback in aeroponic romaine lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia ) cultivation. A leaf thickness–turgor sensor was interfaced with an Arduino Mega 2560 to activate misting events dynamically. Two identical aeroponic systems were operated in a fully controlled environment: a conventional timer-based control (TC) system applying mist every 10 min and an Arduino-controlled (AC) system triggered by turgor changes. Over two independent 37-day cultivation cycles, the AC strategy reduced total water use by an average of 15.9% and pump activations by 17.2% while improving water use efficiency by 17.8% and nutrient use efficiency for N, P, and K by an average of 17.8%, with no statistically significant differences in shoot biomass, height, or yield. Although root dry weight was significantly higher under TC, the AC treatment led to a 45.0% reduction in leaf nitrate accumulation and non-significant increases in phenolic content. These findings demonstrate the potential of turgor-responsive irrigation for enhancing sustainability, resource use efficiency, and the quality of produce in aeroponic systems, thereby supporting its broader integration into controlled-environment agriculture (CEA).

Keywords: Arduino-controlled irrigation; turgor sensor; aeroponics; precision irrigation; romaine lettuce; nitrate accumulation; resource use efficiency; controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/18/1948/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/18/1948/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:18:p:1948-:d:1749378

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().