out of curiosity, does anyone supplement silica? if so, what are your experiences, pros and cons? is it worth managing the extra cog in the machine? and finally, do you have a technique or product you use to achieve this goal?
@stonedalldayinneok I don't personally from what I understand it gives the plant stiffer stems so I guess maybe if you have experience with a lanky strain that tends to flop later in flower might be a good idea to use some other than that I don't know much about it I believe raw nutrients do a silica supplement there's a video on YouTube of a bloke going through the hole nutrient line up and explaining in detail what each do
@mr_bud great I'll check that out, thanks! actually I use their yucca extract cause I grow in coco under LEDs and have a low transpiration rate. that's the nature of this post to be honest. I heard that silica increases nutrient mobility but am looking for real world user experiences.
, I use RO water so I have to use silica, imo. I use General Hydroponics trio so I use their Armor Si. I've looked into this for a while now, over a year. GH Armor Si is derived from Potassium Silicate, as they all are unless you get MSA, Monosilicic Acid. That's another story that ends with a big price tag. I happen to have these ones on hand, lets have a look.
When you look at the label and see that,
Armor is at 4% soluble potash K20, 10% silicon dioxide, 0-0-4
Botanicare is at 0.5% soluble potash K20, 2% silicon dioxide, 0-0-0.5
Rhino Skin is at 0.4% soluble potash K20, .15% Silica dioxide, 0-0-0.4
I currently use the Armor Si and haven't tried either of these yet. I use Si from the 2nd week on. I use a quarter of the recommended amount till after three weeks. Then I increase to 1ml eventually. It great for root health and protection. Cell development and over-all rigidity and strength. I won't grow with out it. Helps to hold up them big buds! lol
It has to be added to your water first before anything else. If you put it in after the fact, it will precipitate. It will fall out of solution and lay in the bottom of your bucket. It's very unstable. So mix first, and stir well. Then I let mine sit for 1hr. Then stir and start adding my other nutrients. Cal/mag comes next for me then Micro or part A whatever your using. I have had good luck with it and recommend it. If your on tap water, you already have Si, so keep that in mind. It's like the second most abundant element on earth, I think. Don't quote me. lol You'll find it in the bottom of your bucket if it's not mix correctly. oops. The micro doesn't have it in it either.
Remember, that it is derived from Potassium. So I've noticed in flower some strains don't need elevated levels of Potassium from their part B, and a PK boost, and then you forget that your Si has it in there to. Just a little fyi.
Some thing else might raddle lose but for now, that's all I know. I started out just like you asking question about it, and it a tough subject. Being in hydro, I have to look and read and try not to buy the coolest LOOKING label!! 🤣
Good luck man. If you want to get techy, go to Manic Botanix. 👍 peace
@stonedalldayinneok (first time forum user bare with me)
Rather than using Si as yet another feed additive that as I understand it messes with your Ph!? I foliar feed Si weekly from five nodes high through to 2nd week flower. I mix mills Vitalize with Epsom salts as since changing to LED for veg I’ve found I need extra Mg additional to the 0.4ec of calmag agent I buffer my water with.
Certainly this combo has helped achieve more vigour in veg
I have used silica for a few grow cycles but because I saw no significant changes/improvements to my grow so I stopped using it and have no immediate plans to restart its use. This probably goes against what everyone else is saying but we don’t all run our grows the same. My tent is rather small and my buds end up supporting each other and using the tent for support so silica did little for me but make the mixing of nutrients more difficult. Even not using silica my plants still usually go 4-6 ounces each in very little grow space so I’d say it wasn’t helping my yield at all.
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@brunelbudz, what is your water source? I use RO, so that's why I use it. @Monkeydo uses rainwater with basically a 0, EC. What's your tech and amount for foliage feeding? Do you mix the Epsom and the Si? Thanks for the input man and your posting fine so far. 👍 Good luck.
@woodi2 thanks man, nice to meet you.
my tap water is generally EC 0.0, occasionally 0.2.
I mix 0.5ml Vitalize into 5ltr room temp water, then add 1tbsp Epsom salt, ph to 5.5-5.8 spray whole plant once weekly immediately after lights off.
I can’t say for sure my garden “needs” the Si, and don’t believe it’s had any effect on yield at all, however I do believe it’s increased vigour in veg and in turn reduced veg time slightly. I also believe it should be helping my plants defend themselves against my re-occurring fungus gnat issues and increasing uptake of nutrient despite slowed transpiration rate under LED.
I thought I should suggest foliar feeding the Si on this thread, as to me it’s too expensive to waste in run to waste coco feed daily!
Hey @brunelbudz, nice to meet you too. Thank you for your input. As you know this is a tricky subject and there's not a lot of hard line facts out there. As you said without a physical side by side comparison each situation is different.
I do like the foliage feeding idea though. It would help with the Si falling out of solution. My concern would be delivery amounts, would once a week be enough. If your using Tap, you may have Si in there already. Since I use RO water, and nothing is present, then that's why I use Si and Cal/mag supplements.
One thing that does concern me would be how well the Si dissolves. That it wouldn't fall out of suspension in the sprayer, and then land as a glob on the plant in a concentrated form. I'm use to General Hydroponics Si, and the cap gets these hard, dry silica crystals, that can cut you! I'm not familiar with Vitalize brand but will look into it.
I believe your are correct with your thinking for the use in DTW systems. It's the "waste" part that I'm still wrapping my head around. lol That's why I'm in RDWC, trying to squeeze out every drop out of my nutrients before I toss it. lol But with nutrients being absorbed at different rates, that bring up questions, (to me), about all of these different systems and the way they deliver nutrients to plants.
But this is the fun of it all. Tring to find the right combination to unlock the mystery behind making our little green friends happy. Thanks man, keep the info coming! 👍
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