A Review of Rhizosphere Processes, Plant Performance and Production Trade‑Offs in Soil Versus Solid‑Substrate Cultivation of Greenhouse Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa)

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is an economically important berry crop in protected horticulture, mainly produced through soil‑based and solid‑substrate soilless systems. Soil cultivation possesses strong physicochemical buffering and abundant indigenous microbial resources, but suffers from continuous cropping obstacles including soil degradation and soil‑borne pathogen accumulation. Solid‑substrate cultivation can isolate soil‑borne pathogens and enables precise rhizosphere manipulation; however, it is constrained by low buffering capacity, unstable microbial assembly, peat‑related ecological costs, and waste‑substrate disposal risks. This review builds a unified analytical framework centered on the cascade "medium physicochemical properties – microbial community – extracellular enzymes – root physiology – yield‑quality performance" and clarifies the conceptual boundaries among soil cultivation, solid‑substrate cultivation, and hydroponics. We analyze the sources of heterogeneity across published results, including cultivar genotype, medium properties, water‑fertilizer management, growth stage, and analytical methodology. Most existing evidence is correlational, whereas rigorous causal manipulation experiments remain scarce, which explains why no universal consensus has been reached on the relative superiority of the two production modes. Key research gaps include fragmented rhizospheric mechanism research, lack of cross‑study standardized experimental conditions, insufficient normalization of enzyme and microbiome datasets, and a shortage of long‑term multi‑objective field assessments. We highlight that microbial–functional decoupling frequently occurs in both soil and solid‑substrate systems, indicating that microbial community composition alone cannot represent real rhizosphere biogeochemical processes. Based on evidence synthesis, differentiated optimization strategies are proposed: soil systems should prioritize soil‑health restoration, whereas solid‑substrate systems need peat‑substitute development, microbial–habitat compatible inoculation, and substrate circular regeneration. Shared future directions cover in‑situ rhizosphere sensing, causal validation experiments, and multi‑objective evaluation balancing yield, fruit quality, resource cost, and environmental footprints. This review provides theoretical references for sustainable protected strawberry production.