Journal of Agricultural Machinery
with the collaboration of Iranian Society of Mechanical Engineers (ISME)

Research Progress on Automatic Potting Equipment for Soft Plastic Seedling Containers

Articles in Press

Document Type : Short Article- En

Authors

B. Chen 1, 2
Zh. Xiong 2, 3
M. Huang 3
X. Wang 3
A. Xu 3

1 Department of Integrated Circuits, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China

2 Guangdong Institute of Modern Agricultural Equipment, Guangzhou 510630, China

3 Shenzhen Institute of Modern Agricultural Equipment, Shenzhen 518001, China

https://doi.org/10.22067/jam.2026.99619.1502
Abstract
Container seedling cultivation is a fundamental practice in modern protected agriculture, widely used for the commercial production of citrus, ornamental flowers, and medicinal crops. While soft plastic seedling pots are popular in nurseries due to their cost-effectiveness and ease of management, their flexible, thin-walled structure and lack of rigidity present significant challenges for automated potting. This paper systematically reviews recent domestic and international advancements in automatic potting equipment specifically designed for plastic containers. Following the PRISMA methodology, we critically analyse four key technical components: the transport rack bearing mechanism, substrate feeding and distribution, intelligent control for quantitative potting, and the separation of stacked soft cells. Our analysis shows that domestic equipment (Chinese) has progressed from intermittent, semi-automatic units to continuous assembly lines, increasing output from under 200 to over 2,300 pots per hour. In contrast, overseas manufacturers offer mature, modular systems for rigid pots capable of processing up to 10,000 pots per hour; however, these machines struggle with soft, thin containers. Currently, non-destructive cell separation, adaptable potting for various sizes, and the alignment of mechanical parameters with agronomic requirements remain the primary bottlenecks limiting broader industrial adoption. Finally, we outline the advantages, disadvantages, challenges, and opportunities in this realm, proposing that adaptive, vision-guided mechanisms and closed-loop control systems are the most promising future research directions.

Keywords

Automatic potting machine
Container seedling raising
Plastic seedling pot
Protected horticulture
Substrate filling
Subjects

Authors retain the copyright. This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

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Journal of Agricultural Machinery

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 07 November 2026

  • Receive Date 25 July 2026
  • Revise Date 07 October 2026
  • Accept Date 11 October 2026
  • First Publish Date 07 November 2026

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