Figure 1.

Hydroponics system setup. (A) Trolley holding the blue reservoir tank (containing 100 L of nutrient solution) is located below two black plant tanks, each holding 42 white tubes filled with round black plastic beads to create a matrix holding the plant. A pump enables flooding and draining of the plant tanks in 20-min intervals. (B) Agar plugs carrying the seeds were inserted into the matrix and covered with nutrient solution for germination. (C) Plants growing in the matrix. Photo was taken on the day of salt imposition.