Vol. 40 No. 2 (2026):
Articles

A plant physiological approach to reduce greenhouse energy consumption

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  • J. Javanmardi,
  • J.M. Vivanco
J. Javanmardi
College of Agriculture, California State University, Chico, CA, USA.
J.M. Vivanco
College of Agricultural Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/ahsc-18222
Categories

Published 2026-07-27

Keywords

  • Greenhouse energy reduction,
  • low-temperature acclimatation,
  • plant growth regulators,
  • salicylic acid,
  • tomato transplant quality

How to Cite

Javanmardi, J., & Vivanco, J. M. (2026). A plant physiological approach to reduce greenhouse energy consumption. Advances in Horticultural Science, 40(2), 153–163. https://doi.org/10.36253/ahsc-18222

Copyright (c) 2026 Jamal Javanmardi, Jorge M. Vivanco

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

The economic and environmental pressures associated with greenhouse heating for warm-season vegetable transplant production have prompted a search for biologically driven, cost-effective alternatives. This study investigates the potential of exogenously applied salicylic acid (SA), a phenolic phytohormone known for its stress-mitigating properties, to reduce energy consumption by enhancing seedling cold tolerance. Tomato seedlings (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Rutgers) were subjected to three concentrations of foliar-applied SA (0, 75, and 150 mg/L) and grown under two temperature regimes 16°C and 25°C, in growth chambers. Transplant morphological parameters, including shoot and root biomass, stem thickness, leaf development, and root system architecture, were analyzed over a 49-day growth cycle. At 16°C, application of 75 mg/L SA significantly enhanced seedling vigor, with shoot fresh weight, stem diameter, and leaf area comparable to those grown at standard commercial conditions of 25°C without SA. SA-treated seedlings exhibited enhanced root biomass and surface area, indicating improved cold tolerance. Importantly, energy modeling indicated that reducing the heating setpoint from 25°C to 16°C could lower heating energy requirements by approximately 45%, a savings enabled by the physiological benefits of SA. These findings underscore the dual role of SA as both a growth regulator and an abiotic stress mitigator, suggesting that targeted SA application could transform transplant production by reducing reliance on costly supplemental heating. This represents a novel integration of plant physiological intervention into sustainable energy management practices in horticulture.

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