Fig. 1.

Effect of different methods of Si application on leaf, stem, and shoot dry matter in sorghum (a, c, e) and sunflowers plants (b, d, f) plants grown under the absence and presence of NaCl in the nutrient solution, and different Si supplementation: (0) control treatment (-Si), (F) foliar Si application (28.6 mmol L⁻¹), (R) nutrient solution Si application (2 mmol L⁻¹), (RF) combined foliar and nutrient solution applications of Si. Data are means of 5 replications ± standard error (SE). Different normal lowercase letters (e.g., a, b) indicate significant differences among Si treatments under non-salt stress; different italic lowercase letters (e.g., a, b, c) indicate significant differences among Si treatments under salt stress and uppercase letters (e.g., A, B) indicate significant differences between non-salt and salt treatments at the same method of Si application, according to the Scheffe test. ANOVA, *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01; Si × NaCl, silicon–sodium chloride interaction, S, Scheffe values (p < 0.05). Stack bars show the S.D., based on the average of five replicates.