Silica and cannabis

Potassium sulfate is 44.9% K by mass (not K2O). In order to get the same amount of potassium by mass as a gram of potassium silicate, you'd need 1.13g of potassium sulfate. It's also 18% S. Potassium hydroxide really would be a superior control because it doesn't contain S. (imo, it's straight up more useful than potassium sulfate, which I've never really seen the purpose of. Potassium nitrate is where it's at when you want potassium)

churchhaze said:

Potassium sulfate is 44.9% K by mass (not K2O). In order to get the same amount of potassium by mass as a gram of potassium silicate, you'd need 1.13g of potassium sulfate. It's also 18% S. Potassium hydroxide really would be a superior control because it doesn't contain S. (imo, it's straight up more useful than potassium sulfate, which I've never really seen the purpose of. Potassium nitrate is where it's at when you want potassium)

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From what I've seen in products like protekt, the silica seems to build up in the plant and even at a suggested dose of 1/4 - 1/2 tsp/gal at every watering, the plants can be brittle at harvest. I've used high K formulas before and the growth and feel of the leaves is just different than when using a silica product. Either way, I don't find silica to be a game changer so whether you're a fan of it or not, you're not missing out on much.

I introduce small amounts of botanicaires silica blast at week 3 of veg and slowly increase over time. I cut it off about week 3 of flower. It keeps plants strong, although I am not sure about detering pests. Last time I had some spider mites, and a few foilar feeds of neem oil wiped them out.

Smokenpassout said:

I introduce small amounts of botanicaires silica blast at week 3 of veg and slowly increase over time.

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FYI. Botanicare has 2% silica. GH Asi is 10%. Dyna Pro-Tekt is 7.8%. (Paying for less water).

AgSil 16H is 52.8%.

Silicon is natural and is very abundant in soil. Growers who grow hydroponically should add this to their fertilizer regime as it is absolutely essential IMHO to a great crop. Here's a link that explains very well why you should use Silica. http://dudegrows.com/use-silica-cannabis-garden/

FuzzyNugz said:

Silicon is natural and is very abundant in soil. Growers who grow hydroponically should add this to their fertilizer regime as it is absolutely essential IMHO to a great crop. Here's a link that explains very well why you should use Silica. http://dudegrows.com/use-silica-cannabis-garden/

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I done side by side and there was a visible difference in the treated plants with silica which was bigger and more robust, use Bio silica as the pH is neutral and does not affect pH at all.

budman111 said:

I done side by side and there was a visible difference in the treated plants with silica which was bigger and more robust, use Bio silica as the pH is neutral and does not affect pH at all.

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Nice do you have pics of the side by side?

All of these commercial products are ridiculously expensive. Why not use food grade diatomaceous earth? Its a fine powder and 90% silica

Love it use it thru whole life cycle start off at 1ml per gallon in 2nd week of veg then go all the way up to 5 by week 7 of flower and then stop it for last two weeks and I use protekt cheap 16$ bottle lasted me thru my veg and harvest for 16 plants

budman111 said:

I done side by side and there was a visible difference in the treated plants with silica which was bigger and more robust, use Bio silica as the pH is neutral and does not affect pH at all.

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Yeah I'll give bio silica a try because the Mad Farmer one I use is really alakaline. I have to put it in first when mixing because it's makes things precipitate otherwise.

AnimalMother1974 said:

All of these commercial products are ridiculously expensive. Why not use food grade diatomaceous earth? Its a fine powder and 90% silica

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Does this work for hydro applications?

FuzzyNugz said:

Yeah I'll give bio silica a try because the Mad Farmer one I use is really alakaline. I have to put it in first when mixing because it's makes things precipitate otherwise.

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I use the mad farmer one when I need pH up, lol. It's strong.

FuzzyNugz said:

Does this work for hydro applications?

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I have no idea. When mixed in water it settles to the bottom fairly fast so I dont know how it would behave in hydro

AnimalMother1974 said:

All of these commercial products are ridiculously expensive. Why not use food grade diatomaceous earth? Its a fine powder and 90% silica

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good post brother!!i love using DE is my soil mix. it also helps hold water into the soil which is a plus for me since im a guerilla grower

az2000 said:

FYI. Botanicare has 2% silica. GH Asi is 10%. Dyna Pro-Tekt is 7.8%. (Paying for less water).

AgSil 16H is 52.8%.

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grow sil is even better at 99.9% silica and 6.28% of plant availble silica as soon as its mixed in a gallon jug.

I use silica supplments as a herbicide, One table spoon of silica blast destroyed my tomato plants. I wouldn't water hitlers plants with it.

I've done a side by side save your money. Buy a 1 part or 2 part nutrient it's all you need..

d.c. beard said:

I've wondered about these silica products for a wile now. They sound great, but what I want to know is how is it for human consumption. Just sounds bad.

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silica is the 2nd most abundant element on earth...

Silica makes your plants tougher. More resiliant and easier to mash up and bend around. I used it the first time on my deck plants because it also helps toughen the stalks and bugs cant bite them.

My one white rhino has a stalk like a baseball bat and I have never seen that before. I am running it (ArmorSi) in my autopots next round and see how it fixes that.

i love it before i started using it my plants would get messed up if i was not home and a hail storm hit. now i dont care had two days of golf ball hail plants are find a few tops got topped and some damaged leaves but thats it i will always use it from now on