What did Jan Van Helmont cinclude from his experiment?

Jan Van Helmont concluded from his experiment, particularly with the growth of a willow tree, that plants do not derive their mass primarily from the soil. Instead, he determined that water was the main contributor to the tree's growth, as he measured the weight of the soil before and after the experiment and found little change. This led him to propose that plants gain their nourishment from water rather than from the soil nutrients, laying early groundwork for understanding plant Biology.