Silicic Acid and other Silica sources?

So, I've been spending most of my time on reddit.com/r/microgrowery and reddit.com/r/macrogrowery but figured I should create an account here as well. No sense in keeping to one community.

Anyway, I've been wanting to know more about silica sources and how to use silica properly with cannabis.

I've found the following sources of silicon:

Potassium Silicate:
AgSil16H
Pro-Tekt

Silicic Acid or Orthosilicic acid or Monosilicic acid. AFAIK, they are all names for the same thing. At least, according to Wikipedia, they are.
OSA28
Fasilitor
MonoSilicic Acid from Bromley Ag

My understanding of potassium silicate products like Agsil or Pro-Tekt is that they don't work at all in low pHs. So, using them in a stock solution is out of the question. And then there's the obvious part of having to add potassium when you want silica. It makes getting 50ppm of silica in my feed solutions really hard it seems. I've been using HydroBuddy to try and figure it out for my veg formula and every time my potassium levels are way too high. I bought 1 lb of AgSil16H from MBFerts.com to try it, and honestly, I'm not happy about it. My potassium levels are too high when I use it, so, to get a reasonable amount of potassium, I have to drop my nitrogen levels since I have to eliminate potassium nitrate from my mix.

But using silicic acid products is generally okay to use in stock solutions. The label on Bromley Ag's MonoSilicic Acid says it can be used in stock solutions down to pH 3. There's also the benefit of there not being anything else in monosilicic acid. It's just supposed to be a source of silica. However, looking closer at Fasilitor, there's more than just silica in it. The downside is, these are all really expensive. It seems Bromley Ag's stuff is cheapest, but still, not cheap like AgSil.

Anyway, have any of you guys used these? If so, how do you use them? Do you make stock solutions? Do you use it in veg? or in flower? Any recommendations?

https://www.kelp4less.com/shop/soluble-silica/ check this out.

Okay that's interesting. Isn't silica powder or silicon dioxide insoluble though? I am so confused now.

[/QUOTE]Anyway, have any of you guys used these? If so, how do you use them? Do you make stock solutions? Do you use it in veg? or in flower? Any recommendations?[/QUOTE]

Im using Protekt for the first time. Attached is the recommended dosage for Protekt that I'm following which is basically 2.5ml per gallon in veg and flower.

Any liquid product you buy from a consumer retailer is, by definition, a stock solution. I don't follow schedules like that, but from the sounds of things, you should just do as it says. I'm sure your plants will turn out okay.

I am curious about this as well. I came home one day to a third of my buds hanging over with bend stems. Even though I have an oscillating fan going at all times, the stems just can't support the weight. Would adding silica this late into flower be of any benefit? Or should I just tie them up and hope for the best.?

atrumblood said:

I am curious about this as well. I came home one day to a third of my buds hanging over with bend stems. Even though I have an oscillating fan going at all times, the stems just can't support the weight. Would adding silica this late into flower be of any benefit? Or should I just tie them up and hope for the best.?

Click to expand...

This late in flower won't do you any good, is what I've heard. It's super beneficial in vegetative growth stages though.

If you zoom in you can see bud hanging over and strings all over the place. Good thing I'm doing a scrog next grow.

I wonder if instead of buying a product marketed towards growers, if one could just add sodium silicate (aka: water glass) to their grow. It is completely water soluble. I just happen to have a gallon of the stuff at home.

In hydroponics, you can start to see problems if your sodium or chloride levels rise above 75 ppm. And they will because plants don't feed on much sodium. It's a micronutrient, at best. So, to maintain 50ppm of silica, you'll keep adding sodium and it will not be going anywhere. In soil, it's a higher concentration, but the same things will happen.

jsquared89 said:

So, I've been spending most of my time on reddit.com/r/microgrowery and reddit.com/r/macrogrowery but figured I should create an account here as well. No sense in keeping to one community.

Anyway, I've been wanting to know more about silica sources and how to use silica properly with cannabis.

I've found the following sources of silicon:

Potassium Silicate:
AgSil16H
Pro-Tekt

Silicic Acid or Orthosilicic acid or Monosilicic acid. AFAIK, they are all names for the same thing. At least, according to Wikipedia, they are.
OSA28
Fasilitor
MonoSilicic Acid from Bromley Ag

My understanding of potassium silicate products like Agsil or Pro-Tekt is that they don't work at all in low pHs. So, using them in a stock solution is out of the question. And then there's the obvious part of having to add potassium when you want silica. It makes getting 50ppm of silica in my feed solutions really hard it seems. I've been using HydroBuddy to try and figure it out for my veg formula and every time my potassium levels are way too high. I bought 1 lb of AgSil16H from MBFerts.com to try it, and honestly, I'm not happy about it. My potassium levels are too high when I use it, so, to get a reasonable amount of potassium, I have to drop my nitrogen levels since I have to eliminate potassium nitrate from my mix.

But using silicic acid products is generally okay to use in stock solutions. The label on Bromley Ag's MonoSilicic Acid says it can be used in stock solutions down to pH 3. There's also the benefit of there not being anything else in monosilicic acid. It's just supposed to be a source of silica. However, looking closer at Fasilitor, there's more than just silica in it. The downside is, these are all really expensive. It seems Bromley Ag's stuff is cheapest, but still, not cheap like AgSil.

Anyway, have any of you guys used these? If so, how do you use them? Do you make stock solutions? Do you use it in veg? or in flower? Any recommendations?

Click to expand...

Fasilitor and most of Aptus's products are super concentrated and last awhile depending on how many plants you run. 3ml to five gallons of water last a good long time. I use their stuff I use fasilitor once a week but only up until I flip to flower I give it a shot as she stretches and once a few weeks after heavy buds held high.

The best silica product is potassium hydroxide flakes... It's like potassium silicate, but without all that pesky glass in it. Oh wait, I thought you meant sources without silica. My bad!

I honestly would not use a hydroxide salt. That is pretty much as strong as you can get on the basic side of the ph scale. You might risk precipitating some of the other nutrients out of solution. Not to mention the ph swings you might cause.