Silica article: Looking for others' knowledge on silica

I've been using it for a couple years. Other than making the stems strong I haven't noticed a huge difference with it. But that doesn't mean too much because my grow is a constant confusing jungle with lots of stuff going on and a lack of time. Until I do a side by side grow with/without silica- I won't really be able to nail down what benefits it brings. I don't have any pests here so I can't detect a difference that way.
 
Weaselcracker said:
I've been using it for a couple years. Other than making the stems strong I haven't noticed a huge difference with it. But that doesn't mean too much because my grow is a constant confusing jungle with lots of stuff going on and a lack of time. Until I do a side by side grow with/without silica- I won't really be able to nail down what benefits it brings. I don't have any pests here so I can't detect a difference that way.
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I comes down to plant's ability to hold the buds better and fence off bugs and strong wind. It also helps the plant to cope with stress and toxic materials in soil. It's not essential but the plant grows stronger with more of it. :slide:
 
Yeah I've read that as well. In the last two years of using it I haven't noticed any huge difference between using it and not using it, but until I do a side by side test grow I may not be able to tell the difference- too many variables and too little time.
As for using aloe- maybe. In an organic soil type grow you may be able to use a high silica additive like that and have the plant absorb it. For that purpose I ground up some dried horsetail plant (also very high in Si) and added that to a pot. I have it sitting in the grow- just haven't gotten around to starting the test grow with it. It will be very easy to tell if it's working by the state of the stems. I just hope I don't end up with a pot full of baby horsetail plants.
 
Finely grounded perlite + diatomaceous earth will make your soil rich in silica and calcium, but remember less is more! Watch your PH.
 
Silica can easily be added from horsetail as others have pointed out or by using bamboo. ANY bamboo is about 72-75% SiO2 by weight.
Burning bamboo then powdering up the ash and then adding it to your soil is another way to get supplemental silica.
Clay is also composed of silica as well. (Complex phyllosilicate) but using it in a growing medium can problematic as it retains a great deal of moisture.
 
I powdered a bunch of dried horsetail- added it to one of my pots as is as few weeks back. I don't know if it will have an effect till it's been composted somehow and broken down, but we will see. I haven't really taken the time to check that plant since. I'll throw the rest somewhere where it can compost, and maybe try burning some.

I recently got a bottle of Grotek Pro-Silicate.
Anyone use this?
It's got an NPK of 0-0-4 and the high K number freaks me out a bit so I haven't been using it much yet, especially on the flowering ones..
 
The Grotek Pro Silicate stuff is comprised of K2SiO3
which is why the high K value. It is used in agriculture to raise soil pH.
K2SiO3 should be diluted greatly as it is highly alkaline.

One can make this DIY by reacting KOH Potassium Hydroxide with SiO2 (straight glass or quartz powder) under high temperature. KOH reacts with glass easily when molten ~360c.
 
I know it's an old thread but just wanted to add by saying that it def works. I'm growing in Mexicali where it reaches 120 literally, and avgs 100ish degree everyday. My plants were always tacoing during the day and thrip damage was pretty obvious. After using silica for three weeks my plants never showed the tacoing again and the thrips were still there BUT damage was basically mom existent. U couldn't even tell they had thrips on them. (I eventully terminated the thrips)
 
Juanbuddha420 said:
I know it's an old thread but just wanted to add by saying that it def works. I'm growing in Mexicali where it reaches 120 literally, and avgs 100ish degree everyday. My plants were always tacoing during the day and thrip damage was pretty obvious. After using silica for three weeks my plants never showed the tacoing again and the thrips were still there BUT damage was basically mom existent. U couldn't even tell they had thrips on them. (I eventully terminated the thrips)
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I've been using Armor Si for a while, but this grow I went with another product by Aptus called Facilitor. It was recommended to me by someone I trust. It's very expensive, so i may never recommend it, but I'll be sure to come back and report my findings.

For the people out there that have never tried Si, know that this element is one that will show a striking change in your plants in just a couple days. Be very sure you sort out the Ph. Check it frequently for a couple days. Don't add this stuff to nutrients. Start with clean water, i use RO. This product will also help keep a leggy sativa from walking off on you. It will slow verticle growth some if youre running out of space. It really is a wonderful thing, and it honestly blows my mind that not everyone uses it
 
I got another interesting thought, how about using Pumice as it is form of natural glass and is very porous for the extra aeration.

Some properties:
Silicon dioxide= 70.5%
Aluminum oxide= 13.5%
PH: 7.2

So you can use it instead of perlite.
 
I'm glad now that I've been too lazy to read the 200+ threads I have had opened in separate browser tabs for months, lol. Otherwise, I wouldn't have stumbled upon this thread at this time. And I had forgotten about the fact that Si tends to precipitate out at "reasonable" pH... I had some dumb idea that, since I have no pH Up product, I'd try to buy a bottle of that GH Armor Si stuff (even though I'm not really a fan of giving money to the Scotts Miracle-Gro monster that bought General Hydroponics :rolleyes3 ), and add a few(?) drops to my nutrient solution (after mixing) if I need to raise its pH.

Now... I'm not sure how wise that would be.

I should have taken my plants to work with me when I worked in the automobile detailing industry - there was enough silica dust flying around and landing everywhere to give birds flying overhead silicosis (to say nothing of us poor dumb b@stards who were in there running high speed buffers with no masks).
 
I love silica, really don't think you could overdo it....I love folair spraying the heck out of my plants with it a couple times a week....this was a recipe given to me by a member here that I use a couple times a week;
1 gal water
1/4 cup Horsetail Fern tea
1-2tsp Si(so Dyna Grow ProTekt or something similar)
1 TBS Ful-Power(Fulvic Acid)

shake well and spray down a couple times, can also add in a little spinosad and make it an IPM routine :thumb:

Also rice hulls are a great source of Si too on their own...can also check out a product called Gro-Sil, it's 99.9% Si in powder form derived from rice hulls(I think they burn the rice hulls) :Namaste:
 
Horsetail fern - We store dried in jars. It will last a few years like that ... likely longer. Don't need to compost it, can store dried, make a tea with hot water in a mason jar let cool, then into the fridge. It will keep in the fridge for quite some time. At least a month or more. Foiler that on your plants starting in VEG. It's been a thing for fighting off molds/blossom end rot/etc for a VERY long time. Goes back to Rudolf Steiner days (late 1800s).

Pro-tekt is another source. I use both Horsetail Fern tea and Pro-tekt. Problem with Pro-tekt is its high in K - so be aware of that. Some folks don't like a lot of K in the soil as it disrupts the micro-herd. Why I use Pro-tekt as a foiler not as a soil drench.


Here's the science:

"Soil cation ratios for crop production" https://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/nutrient-management/soil-and-plant-sampling/soil-cation-ratios/, and other studies indicated that addition of extra K to soil will soon result in reduced plant yield, and, maybe, some decrease of microbial population consuming carbon and nitrogen from plants."
 
Thanks for the thread labexperiment, I wasn't sure about Silica but will be incorporating it in my between nutrient waterings very soon :) No more sagging branches struggling to support buds! :yummy:
 
MyDogSpot said:
The crew I work with and I are down with Silica on all of the gardens we manage, personal or not.
The plants seem very thankful.
Click to expand...
MDS, do you know if we can give too much silica ? Marijuana plants that we had to stake, now stands right there without anything. just wondering if to much, is possible ?
 
Slowpuffer said:
MDS, do you know if we can give too much silica ? Marijuana plants that we had to stake, now stands right there without anything. just wondering if to much, is possible ?
Click to expand...

I believe you can give too much silica. I’d watch and adhere to the manufacture notes.
I’d also introduce it slowly to your grows. Don’t give them the maximum dose right away.
Also note that mixing some silica with certain nutes can cause a nite lockout or gelling of the silica.

Cheers!
 

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