Van Helmont’s experience is known when, taking 90.6 kg of dry land and a willow tree weighing 2.5 kg

Van Helmont’s experience is known when, taking 90.6 kg of dry land and a willow tree weighing 2.5 kg, he grew it, watering it with rainwater only. After 5 years, willow weight was 74.2 kg, and the weight of the land decreased by only 56.6 g. Van Helmont made the erroneous conclusion that the material from which the tree was formed came from water used for irrigation. Why was a scientist mistaken from the point of view of a modern person? What conclusion should he have drawn as a result of his research today?

1) Van Helmont did not know anything about the processes of photosynthesis.
2) Today, he would come to the conclusion that organic substances are synthesized by the plants themselves, absorbing substances not only from water, but also from air (soil and air nutrition)