Ornamental plant production constitutes an important sector of the horticultural industry worldwide and fungal infections, that dramatically affect the aesthetic quality of plants, can cause serious economic and crop losses. The need to reduce the use of pesticides for controlling fungal outbreaks requires the development of new sustainable strategies for pathogen control. In particular, early and accurate large-scale detection of occurring symptoms is critical to face the ambitious challenge of an effective, energy-saving, and precise disease management. Here, the new trends in digital-based detection and available tools to treat fungal infections are presented in comparison with conventional practices. Recent advances in molecular biology tools, spectroscopic and imaging technologies and fungal risk models based on microclimate trends are examined. The revised spectroscopic and imaging technologies were tested through a case study on rose plants showing important fungal diseases (i.e., spot spectroscopy, hyperspectral, multispectral, and thermal imaging, fluorescence sensors). The final aim was the examination of conventional practices and current e-tools to gain the early detection of plant diseases, the identification of timing and spacing for their proper management, reduction in crop losses through environmentally friendly and sustainable production systems. Moreover, future perspectives for enhancing the integration of all these approaches are discussed.

Drought dramatically affects wood production by adversely impacting cambial cells and their derivatives. Photosynthesis and assimilate transport are also affected by drought conditions. Two poplar genotypes, Populus deltoides ‘Dvina’ and Populus alba ‘Marte’, demonstrated contrasting growth performance and water–carbon balance strategies; a mechanistic understanding of the water deficit response was provided by these poplar species. ‘Marte’ was found to be more anisohydric than ‘Dvina’. This characteristic was associated with the capacity to reallocate carbohydrates during water deficits. In contrast, ‘Dvina’ displayed more conservative water management; carbohydrates were preferably stored or used for cellulose production rather than to achieve an osmotic balance between the phloem and the xylem. Data confirmed that the more ‘risk-taking’ characteristic of ‘Marte’ allowed a rapid recovery following water deficit and was connected to a different carbohydrate metabolism.

Low nutrient and high pH of circulating water represent two of the main issues to overcome for a successful combination of aquaculture and hydroponics in aquaponics offering a sustainable and circular economy solution for vegetable production. The purpose of this study was to screen the tolerance of four herbs to high pH and low nutrient concentration in hydroponics, i.e., green and red basils, mint, and rocket salad, with a focus on plant yield and nutraceutical aspects. Results highlighted green basil as the most tolerant species to low nutrient and high pH conditions followed by mint. On the contrary, negative effects from high pH and low nutrient were reported on red basil and especially rocket salad, which strongly affect their marketability parameters. Rocket salad fresh biomass was more than halved under the combination of high pH and low nutrients. Results on green and red basil showed the importance of testing the tolerance to these agronomic conditions at both species and variety levels. Despite the reduction in biomass, leaf pigments were not influenced by high pH and low nutrients and therefore can be considered parameters of minor importance for the evaluation of these species. In conclusion, the tolerance of green basil and mint to high pH and low nutrients under hydroponic conditions has been highlighted. Further investigation coupled with fish farming will be able to reinforce the convenience of using these species for aquaponics.

Populus alba ‘Villafranca’ clone is well-known for its tolerance to cadmium (Cd). To determine the mechanisms of Cd tolerance of this species, wild-type (wt) plants were compared with transgenic plants over-expressing an aquaporin (aqua1, GenBank GQ918138). Plants were maintained in hydroponic conditions with Hoagland’s solution and treated with 10 µM of Cd, renewed every 5 d. The transcription levels of heavy metal transporter genes (PaHMA2, PaNRAMP1.3, PaNRAMP2, PaNRAMP3.1, PaNRAMP3.2, PaABCC9, and PaABCC13) were analyzed at 1, 7, and 60 d of treatment. Cd application did not induce visible toxicity symptoms in wt and aqua1 plants even after 2 months of treatment confirming the high tolerance of this poplar species to Cd. Most of the analyzed genes showed in wt plants a quick response in transcription at 1 d of treatment and an adaptation at 60 d. On the contrary, a lower transcriptional response was observed in aqua1 plants in concomitance with a higher Cd concentration in medial leaves. Moreover, PaHMA2 showed at 1 d an opposite trend within organs since it was up-regulated in root and stem of wt plants and in leaves of aqua1 plants. In summary, aqua1 overexpression in poplar improved Cd translocation suggesting a lower Cd sensitivity of aqua1 plants. This different response might be due to a different transcription of PaNRAMP3 genes that were more transcribed in wt line because of the importance of this gene in Cd compartmentalization.

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) appears a promising strategy for supporting crop protection, increasing yield and quality, and promoting environmental safety through a decrease in chemical use. However, very few NTP applications on containerized crops are reported under operational growing conditions and in combination with eco-friendly growing media and fertigation management. In this work, NTP technology is applied to the nutrient solution used for the production of gerbera plants grown in peat or green compost, as an alternative substrate to peat, and with standard or low fertilization. NTP treatment promotes fresh leaf and flower biomass production in plants grown in peat and nutrient adsorption in those grown in both substrates, except for Fe, while decreasing dry plant matter. However, it causes a decrease in the leaf and flower biomasses of plants grown in compost, showing a substrate-dependent effect under a low fertilization regime. In general, the limitation in compost was probably caused by the high-substrate alkalinization that commonly interferes with gerbera growth. Under low fertilization, a reduction in the photosynthetic capacity further penalizes plant growth in compost. A lower level of fertilization also decreases gerbera quality, highlighting that Ca, Mg, Mn, and Fe could be reduced with respect to standard fertilization.