Silica

Ok so been troubleshooting this issue for a while. First thought this was over watering issue then noticed there were tons of bugs beneath the surface that appeared to be root aphids... ran captain jacks through them and still waiting for this to take effect.

My older girls are almost completely yellow and the new seedlings look like there about to die. My ph is 5.8-6.0 in coco with ec at 1200 or 1.2

But something else I noticed... same plant food as last time and coco and watering method. The diff this time is I see lots of what looks like root aphids and I started to add silica to my hydro feed. Didn't know adding directly to feed grow this can cause nute issues so maybe I am starting to narrow down my issue here.

Question is... how factual is adding silica to grow solution is that it will cause deficiencies? And what deficiencies?

If silica can only be dissolved in water at ph 7.0 or higher how are you supposed to add this to coco plants?

Thanks I'm advanced.

Beezelbuz said:

If silica can only be dissolved in water at ph 7.0 or higher

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i don't think that's true.

also, i've never heard of a deficiency of Silica. it's something present in soil that is not in hydro unless you add it.

rkymtnman said:

i don't think that's true.

also, i've never heard of a deficiency of Silica. it's something present in soil that is not in hydro unless you add it.

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No not a deficiency in silica but the fact that I'm adding in the silica is causing other nutrients to be locked out. I have seen several vids that talk about this and articles but none that I cam find explain why or exactly how to properly use it

Beezelbuz said:

No not a deficiency in silica but the fact that I'm adding in the silica is causing other nutrients to be locked out. I have seen several vids that talk about this and articles but none that I cam find explain why or exactly how to properly use it

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gotcha. what brand of Si are you using? the only 2 i've used are GH Armor Si and now CES Bulletproof Si.

as long as you mix it first and are using a "normal" amount, you shouldn't have any lockout issues i think

Beezelbuz said:

No not a deficiency in silica but the fact that I'm adding in the silica is causing other nutrients to be locked out. I have seen several vids that talk about this and articles but none that I cam find explain why or exactly how to properly use it

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Silica jacks up your ph which could be your issue

I run DTW passive Hempy at 1/2 tsp ( on tap ) mixing this element first in water ……. This way it doesn’t bind to nute molecules and render something unavailable to plant. Then I do a ph test before ( adding Nutes ) just to see how much higher it pushed.

After that I mix up my feed at about 800 / 850 ish ( ec 1.2 - 1.4 ) at 5.8 ph ( adjusted ) , I feed this twice a day like coco.

Oh man!!! Ok this I thinkay be my problem... until today I didnt know you had to put in silica first... does anyone have any info on why this is? Someone said it binds with the other nutes? Well why does this happen if you add it after and not before? Any docs I can read this?

Beezelbuz said:

Oh man!!! Ok this I thinkay be my problem... until today I didnt know you had to put in silica first... does anyone have any info on why this is? Someone said it binds with the other nutes? Well why does this happen if you add it after and not before? Any docs I can read this?

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just do a google search. silica precipitating in reservoir or the like

Thank you "silica precipitation" was the term I was looking for. Been searching for this and not a single article called it this until I specifically searched for it... thanks again

I've never found a need to add any silica product regardless of what grow method. Hydro, soil, coco, etc... I'd just stop using it. It's not needed. I've used it but stopped years ago.

xtsho said:

I've never found a need to add any silica product regardless of what grow method. Hydro, soil, coco, etc... I'd just stop using it. It's not needed. I've used it but stopped years ago.

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I agree I was trying it because I saw it helped the plant but I didn't have any weak plant issues before so maybe your right its more hassle than it worth... removed it from nute solution and gave plants new solution... hope the recover soon

Beezelbuz said:

I agree I was trying it because I saw it helped the plant but I didn't have any weak plant issues before so maybe your right its more hassle than it worth... removed it from nute solution and gave plants new solution... hope the recover soon

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Good luck.

xtsho said:

I've never found a need to add any silica product regardless of what grow method. Hydro, soil, coco, etc... I'd just stop using it. It's not needed. I've used it but stopped years ago.

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I saw noticeable benefits when I used Si in hydro, in fact I stopped using it because the strain I was running at the time became almost untrainable with the addition of Si. The branches got so thick and rigid so quickly that LST became a scary process. Not sure if all strains would react to it this way, but I just thought I'd share.

NanoGadget said:

I saw noticeable benefits when I used Si in hydro, in fact I stopped using it because the strain I was running at the time became almost untrainable with the addition of Si. The branches got so thick and rigid so quickly that LST became a scary process. Not sure if all strains would react to it this way, but I just thought I'd share.

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How did you add it? I'm seeing to add it first and to add it separate so I'm a bit confused. If your adding it first how long do you need to wait before adding nutes? Or do yoy just ph it and then add nutes?

Beezelbuz said:

How did you add it? I'm seeing to add it first and to add it separate so I'm a bit confused. If your adding it first how long do you need to wait before adding nutes? Or do yoy just ph it and then add nutes?

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Always add it first. I would typically add it and go do something else for little while to give it time to stabilize. Then I'd adjust pH, add the rest of the nutrients, check and adjust pH again, feed.

NanoGadget said:

I saw noticeable benefits when I used Si in hydro, in fact I stopped using it because the strain I was running at the time became almost untrainable with the addition of Si. The branches got so thick and rigid so quickly that LST became a scary process. Not sure if all strains would react to it this way, but I just thought I'd share.

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That's what most people that use it say it does. The thing is I don't want big thick stems. I'd rather support the plants if they need it.

Now outdoors I could see the benefit from a sturdier plant. I did find another use for my potassium silicate and that's to use it as a foliar outdoors to help prevent PM. That's been working pretty good.

I didn't notice much when I was using it other than after running reservoirs for years the addition of silicates took me off of autopilot and had me monitoring things more than I wanted. It's not an essential element so I don't use it. I'm a minimalist when it comes to feeding. I don't use anything that isn't needed.

PH matters. Adding silica first can cause PH to spike above 8.

(silicic products like PowerSi do not spike the PH.)

xtsho said:

I've never found a need to add any silica product regardless of what grow method. Hydro, soil, coco, etc... I'd just stop using it. It's not needed. I've used it but stopped years ago.

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Its not needed, but it can be a gamechanger. I had a c99 feno that made giga colas, but the branches were spaghetti. When I gave them silica the branches became so hard, almost no help needed to support them. Also can help alot with mold issues.


Yes silica must be added first, it locks nutes if put undiluted into your res with nutes in it. Always mix in water + silica --> then nutes

xtsho said:

That's what most people that use it say it does. The thing is I don't want big thick stems. I'd rather support the plants if they need it.

Now outdoors I could see the benefit from a sturdier plant. I did find another use for my potassium silicate and that's to use it as a foliar outdoors to help prevent PM. That's been working pretty good.

I didn't notice much when I was using it other than after running reservoirs for years the addition of silicates took me off of autopilot and had me monitoring things more than I wanted. It's not an essential element so I don't use it. I'm a minimalist when it comes to feeding. I don't use anything that isn't needed.

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It’s def helped my outdoor plants. I get a very high sustained winds and struggle with not losing branches.