Multi-tier hydroponic systems offer a promising approach to increasing land use efficiency in controlled-environment strawberry production; however, persistent shading in the lower tier substantially reduces vegetative growth, reproductive performance...
Multi-tier hydroponic systems offer a promising approach to increasing land use efficiency in controlled-environment strawberry production; however, persistent shading in the lower tier substantially reduces vegetative growth, reproductive performance, and fruit quality. This study evaluated whether supplemental lighting with different light qualities (spectral composition) can mitigate lower tier light deficits and whether the greenhouse light environment has carryover effects on the vigor of runner-derived stock plants. Plants were grown in an upper tier control (UT-C) and a lower tier control (LT-C), and four supplemental lighting treatments were applied only to the lower tier: blue (LT-B), red (LT-R), red + white (LT-RW), and red + white + far-red (LT-RWF). The lower tier showed a 6–8 mol·m−2·d−1 reduction in daily light integral (DLI) compared with the upper tier, whereas supplemental lighting increased DLI by ~6.5 mol·m−2·d−1. Among the tested light qualities, LT-RW produced the greatest improvements in vegetative and reproductive traits, fruit quality, and total yield, increasing lower tier productivity from 18% (LT-C) to 66% of the UT-C yield. LT-RW also improved sweetness and flavor balance by increasing soluble solids content (SSC) and the SSC/TA ratio while maintaining moderate acidity. LT-RWF provided intermediate benefits, whereas LT-R and LT-B showed limited yield compensation, although LT-B markedly increased ellagic acid and sugar accumulation on a dry-weight basis. Across cultivars (‘Seolhyang’ and ‘Mannyeonseol’), LT-RW showed the most stable performance, indicating broad applicability. In a second phase, runners produced under each light-quality treatment were transplanted into a uniform nursery environment, and no significant carryover effects were detected in leaf development, crown expansion, runner number, runner length, or diameter. Overall, the mixed light quality treatment LT-RW provides an effective and economically viable strategy to overcome light limitations in multi-tier strawberry systems while maintaining propagation quality.