Does Silica help waterlogged or overwatered roots?

jimbonorman

Well-Known Member
Hi folks, wondering if this is a thing. Would silica help my plant recover if it’s been overwatered? I’ve dried it out for 16 days and it finally looked thirsty again, so gave it half a quart of water with some natural root boosters and it doesn’t look any better a day and a half later. A friend is suggesting silica but I read that it retains moisture…so not sure if that means more moisture for the plant or more moisture taken from the plant…
 

IndooorGardnerOhio

Well-Known Member
Hi folks, wondering if this is a thing. Would silica help my plant recover if it’s been overwatered? I’ve dried it out for 16 days and it finally looked thirsty again, so gave it half a quart of water with some natural root boosters and it doesn’t look any better a day and a half later. A friend is suggesting silica but I read that it retains moisture…so not sure if that means more moisture for the plant or more moisture taken from the plant…
At this point, unless your going to repot it, Silica prolly wouldnt help a whole lot. Silica Beads however WILL absorb water but also keep it away from the plant and slowly release it back into the soil,however if you want something like that, one of the polymer moisture holders would likely work better, they also suck up water and hold it till the soil around it starts to dry out.

Something like this.

 

jimbonorman

Well-Known Member
Ok here are some pics.

Day 31 was the last watering before I noticed things were not well and subsequently paused on watering for 16 days.
Day 39 the lightening up of the leaves was much more evident…like watching a slow motion car wreck. Soil was still super moist.
Day 46 is two days ago (day before finally watering again)
Day 48 is today - I watered her yesterday and she didn’t really perk up or anything compared to the day before…she seems even more yellow looking after the watering than before.

This is the third plant that I’ve had these issues with recently and I guess at this point I’m wondering if it’s a repairable issue or not. I’ve been keeping the first two plants with this issue while I have the space just to see if they can bounce back…but they haven’t. So I’m starting to think that water logging your plant too early on in veg is simply a death sentence.
 

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IndooorGardnerOhio

Well-Known Member
Ok here are some pics.

Day 31 was the last watering before I noticed things were not well and subsequently paused on watering for 16 days.
Day 39 the lightening up of the leaves was much more evident…like watching a slow motion car wreck. Soil was still super moist.
Day 46 is two days ago (day before finally watering again)
Day 48 is today - I watered her yesterday and she didn’t really perk up or anything compared to the day before…she seems even more yellow looking after the watering than before.

This is the third plant that I’ve had these issues with recently and I guess at this point I’m wondering if it’s a repairable issue or not. I’ve been keeping the first two plants with this issue while I have the space just to see if they can bounce back…but they haven’t. So I’m starting to think that water logging your plant too early on in veg is simply a death sentence.
Im a Noob, so I could be totally wrong here, but that does not look like over watering to me, that looks like Nutrient lockout due to pH issue or Either too much of some nute or too little. Wish i could be more help.
 

jimbonorman

Well-Known Member
Over watered has always looked like this with my plant.View attachment 5376466

I dont see the leaf droop in your photos that typically comes with over watering.
yeah I know - I’ve heard this from others as well. It could be a ph issue but based on my experience with the other plants and the high moisture level of the soil lasting for so long, it’s either a) overwatering or b) overwatering and ph issues…but I don’t think it can be purely a ph issue. I suspect it’s how overwatering shows itself in early veg…at least in my experience. When plants are seedlings they yellow due to overwatering so I suspect that the plants still respond in this way if they’re less than a month old? Still not sure about anything, really tbh.
 

Beeswings

Well-Known Member
yeah I know - I’ve heard this from others as well. It could be a ph issue but based on my experience with the other plants and the high moisture level of the soil lasting for so long, it’s either a) overwatering or b) overwatering and ph issues…but I don’t think it can be purely a ph issue. I suspect it’s how overwatering shows itself in early veg…at least in my experience. When plants are seedlings they yellow due to overwatering so I suspect that the plants still respond in this way if they’re less than a month old? Still not sure about anything, really tbh.
What is your temp and humidity at? What kind of soil are you running? I see the humidifier in the one picture. You'd think in decent conditions a pot would be so bone dry in 16 days the plant would be dead as hell lol. Also have you tried fabric pots?
 

jimbonorman

Well-Known Member
What is your temp and humidity at? What kind of soil are you running? I see the humidifier in the one picture. You'd think in decent conditions a pot would be so bone dry in 16 days the plant would be dead as hell lol. Also have you tried fabric pots?
I used to use fabric pots but stopped because they were a bitch to clean. The three plants that I’ve had issues with are in plastic pots and I think that’s partially what threw me off. I typically water the plants a certain amount and it was always ok with fabrics due to their breathability….but clearly this is too much for plastic pots and I’m not used to how they hold water this early in veg. I have a few other runs staggered behind this one and I’ve been watering much more delicately and so far they’re doing great. So it seems like it’s more a matter of watering less in the beginning - hence my supposition that this is an issue of overwatering.

Temps are in the mid 70s
Rh is in the mid 60s
Soil is Fox Farm Happy Frog amended with
  • 20% perlite
  • 20% EWC
  • Down To Earth 4-4-4 and dolomite lime (2Tbsp per gallon)
  • and some DynoMyco

It’s kind of crazy to me that the soil remained moist enough for 2 whole weeks, but the fact that the plant didn’t die and just kept on growing tells me that the roots just weren’t mature enough to handle a fully saturated medium yet and slowly made use of the excess water.

SO, here I am attempting to help the roots bounce back and drying them out doesn’t seem to have helped yet (maybe I need to give her more time to see a change?). All the online advice I find says to dry out the medium and slowly reintroduce water, but I’m curious if anyone has experience with or used Silica personally in a situation like this to successfully repair overwatered roots?
 

Fallguy111

Well-Known Member
When you mix your soil you should let it sit for a month at least, longer the better. I don’t have much experience with bagged soil but the last time I bought ffof my plants showed the “uncooked “ look. The ffof that I put in a tub and used a few months later was hands down much better.
 

jimbonorman

Well-Known Member
When you mix your soil you should let it sit for a month at least, longer the better. I don’t have much experience with bagged soil but the last time I bought ffof my plants showed the “uncooked “ look. The ffof that I put in a tub and used a few months later was hands down much better.
Ah interesting. This bag has actually been sitting in my garage for almost a year now, but I’m almost done with it and I think I’m going to try ProMix HP next based on recommendations from other growers.
 

Beeswings

Well-Known Member
I bet your 'crobes environments and shit are all messed up now, you may want to use recharge or something with your next watering, if you water again lol. Happy frog is just good already, adding anything to it besides fertilizer after a month or so it's just complicating things and causing trouble.
 

jimbonorman

Well-Known Member
This is as good a guide as I have yet to come across - thanks for sharing.

One thing I am learning that this article doesn’t really get into is a strategy for developing roots. I’ve recently been watering around the root zone during the first 3 weeks or so (basically the seedling stage) and I’ve had much greater success in accelerating the plants into veg - the basic philosophy being that I’m forcing the roots to chase the water and thus grow and develop with vigor in the first month. I’ve had recent issues where I flood the soil too soon in the seedling stage and stunt growth so severely the plants can’t recover. I don’t see many growers discussing this but it’s a watering strategy that has helped me tremendously.

I should add, I’ve started this strategy with seeds I planted after this one. The plant in this thread is unfortunately a victim of my prior habits.
 
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