Wearable and flexible sensor technologies for monitoring plant physiology and environmental conditions

Purpose This paper aims to explore the role of plant growth monitoring in precision agriculture, ecological environment protection and urban greening, this study analyzes the applications, challenges and future development directions of wearable flexible sensors for monitoring plant physiology and growth environments. Design/methodology/approach This review focuses on wearable flexible sensor technologies for plant physiology and environmental monitoring: optical sensors, flexible electronic sensors and chemical/biological sensors. The data were collected through Web of Science search, and then carefully manually organized, analyzed, and summarized. Findings Current challenges for wearable sensors in plant growth monitoring include insufficient long-term stability, environmental interference suppression and multi-sensor collaborative optimization. Originality/value Propose future development directions such as the development of new flexible materials, design of self-powered systems, solar energy harvesting sensors integrated with leaf veins to avoid shading critical photosynthetic tissues and AI-driven data intelligent analysis. These innovations, based on interdisciplinary integration, are expected to promote the development of precision agriculture and intelligent ecosystems.