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Raw silica

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greentomato
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Nice one everyone!! 
in my head seems like a bit of a pointless product but like everything you see some people swear by it and other people say it doesn’t make a bit of difference.

I do use diatomaceous earth so good to know it adds silica as I just use it for fungus gnats!

 
Posted : September 4, 2021 4:33 pm
twisted1, Chillbert, Woolie and 24 people reacted
TempleGrower
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I honestly think that this is just a big, expensive bag of diatomaceous earth. It even looks like it in your pic. I looked on RAW's site for any sort of guaranteed analysis or something that tells you what's actually in it. Couldn't find anything.. and their spokesperson, Harley Smith (lol), uses a lot of vague terminology like biogenic, which just means 'made by a living organism', which literally describes diatomaceous earth as it's the tiny shells of marine phytoplankton called diatoms. He also used the descriptor 'flowable, which I've never heard used in my experience as a geologist/soil scientist in any context. Makes me go 'hmmmmmm.....'

Silica in this form is utterly insoluble in water. It basically is just floating around in suspension in the water, not dissolved. Moreover, plants uptake silica not in the form of SiO2 (silicon dioxide) like diatomaceous earth is, but as orthosilicic acid, which forms in the presence of root exudates and other chemical reactions in the soil. And actually, most mediums, whether soil based or coco have enough silica already within their matrix for the plants (except 'pure' hydro like DWC obviously). BUT, the worst thing IMO, is that right on the front of the package they note that 'This product does not benefit dicot plants'. Cannabis is absolutely a dicot (2 cotyledons). So. Yeah. Feel free to use it but don't attribute any positive results to it. Snake oil!

And just so you know I'm not full of shit lol, I am actually a geoscientist by degree and so silica is quite close to my heart, and not literally like those stupid crystal worshipping hippies. I hate when I see misinformation being spread about things I know a bit about so... I've even seen other silica supplements that actually had growth stimulants like vitamin B and other non-silica components that probably would have had an effect on the plant, but would have been misinterpreted as being due to the silica. So do be careful out there. And absolutely post here! I'll figure out wtf the shit is... 😤 

snake oil

Also, if you want to have a really good read about Silica uptake in plants, this paper is very excellent. I think it's possibly where a lot of the assumptions about silica (drought resistance, stress resistance, etc.) came from (see the section "Role of Silica in Stress Relief).

 
Posted : September 5, 2021 5:06 am
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BubbleHok
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@templegrower Well there you go, great info mate, I started using DE years ago for pest control because my grandad used to use it, he swore by it for all sorts of pest, I had always heard it added some silica but from that info I guess not, at least it kills off fungus gnat larvae so still useful. I never have used a straight silica supplement anyway, I've always purchased food grade DE and used it mixed through my medium and then as a pest solution later if required. Good to know its not worth it unless in DWC. 

With Diatomaceous earth i know its diatoms and from what i understand they are fossilized sea critters, but are they sourced as a slab of sedimentary rock and then ground down to produce the powder? or is it actual shells they just crush up? just something I've always wondered and figured as a geoscientist you would be the person to ask lol 

I feel like a, like a slice of butter... melting on top of a big-ol' pile of flapjacks... yeah.

 
Posted : September 5, 2021 6:03 am
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TempleGrower
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Posted by: @bubblehok

With Diatomaceous earth i know its diatoms and from what i understand they are fossilized sea critters, but are they sourced as a slab of sedimentary rock and then ground down to produce the powder? or is it actual shells they just crush up? just something I've always wondered and figured as a geoscientist you would be the person to ask lol 

Yep, both true! The shells pile up over hundreds and thousands of years and eventually become lithified into the sedimentary rocks that are mined and ground into the DE we all know and love. The famous White Cliffs of Dover are very similar actually - not made of diatom shells but other types of marine organisms' skeletons called coccoliths. These are made form calcium carbonate tho, not silica dioxide. Same end result tho!

 
Posted : September 5, 2021 6:55 pm
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@templegrower brilliant thanks mate, interesting stuff. My grandad was really into minerals and geology. One of my fondest memories of him is when he took me to the big museum in Sydney while they had a geology show, we spent all day at the museum and he explained all the fossils and what they were, crazy how the little things bring back the fond memories. I suppose I'm just one of those stoner's that likes history lol

I feel like a, like a slice of butter... melting on top of a big-ol' pile of flapjacks... yeah.

 
Posted : September 5, 2021 8:19 pm
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greentomato
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@templegrower thanks for blessing this thread with the knowledge!

 

 
Posted : September 6, 2021 9:05 am
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Posted by: @greentomato

@templegrower thanks for blessing this thread with the knowledge!

 

I do what I can with what I got! Haha, all good mang. I will say too that I'm more than happy to be proven incorrect in anything I post or say. It just has to actually make sense and be demonstrable, otherwise it's just bro speculation. And always remember, while cannabis is a very special plant, it's still a plant and so traditional horticultural science is 100% applicable and shouldn't be ignored.

 
Posted : September 6, 2021 6:58 pm
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naamk
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I have had good luck using silica as a foliar spray so it doesn't muck around with the PH in the root zone. It does work to protect the plant

 

 
Posted : September 23, 2021 6:11 pm
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