Silica: Yes or No?

Robert Paulson

Robert Paulson

Active Member
I have not ever used silica but have been reading of the benefits and it seams like i should be. Everything I read was positive, therefore i was wondering if there is any down side to it at all. Is it really all it is cracked up to be? What makes it so special?
 
racerboy71

racerboy71

bud bootlegger
what on earth are you going on about m8?? what use do you have for silica in growing?? the only thing i use silica for is to keep the moisture out of my bean collections..
 
max316420

max316420

Well-Known Member
wrong silica lol i think he is talking about something like rhino skin hehe, just be careful with it, it will raise hell with your ph. I used it and didn't see much difference except for a drop in my soils ph
 
Robert Paulson

Robert Paulson

Active Member
max316420 said:
wrong silica lol i think he is talking about something like rhino skin hehe, just be careful with it, it will raise hell with your ph. I used it and didn't see much difference except for a drop in my soils ph
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thanks for your inptu. raise hell as in it will go up or just be erratic?
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
max316420 said:
I'm guessing it played a sig roll in dropping the ph of my promix to lockout levels, wasn't the only factor but it added to the headache
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Sorry, but some use it as a pH UP. It for sure wouldn't be dropping your pH.

I use it and it's good stuff and cheap. The only downside is if you get too happy with it and use too much, too often.

I use ~1/2tsp/gallon of water every couple weeks or so. Actually, since I'm lazy, it's 1tbl/5 gallon bucket of water. I use ProTekt from Dyna-Gro.

Wet
 
mouthmeetsoap

mouthmeetsoap

Active Member
I used Rhino Skin for a run and didn't notice a difference. Now I'm using Botanicare silica rocks like perlite and still not seeing much of a difference. I'm sure it's beneficial, just not sure how beneficial. I don't think it's hurting anybody to not be using it.
 
Dr. Bigbud

Dr. Bigbud

Well-Known Member
I use it and i think its good for helping the plant build up a tolerance for heat and stressful conditions, keeps it lush and growing.
 
ClamDigger

ClamDigger

Active Member
i use Potassium Silicate and it definitely raises the PH (its actually our PH up)
Miracle Gro 24-8-16 at 1 TBSP per Gallon, lowers the PH from tap 6.6 to 3.5!
1ML of Potassium Silicate and its in the 6 range.
not sure if the Silicate itself helps, but having PH balanced nutes sure does :D
 
Cali.Grown>408

Cali.Grown>408

Well-Known Member
we have silica in Tap water..i've never used any silica booster but was thinking about buying silica blast for my outdoor crop this year
 
Wolverine97

Wolverine97

Well-Known Member
Wetdog said:
Sorry, but some use it as a pH UP. It for sure wouldn't be dropping your pH.

I use it and it's good stuff and cheap. The only downside is if you get too happy with it and use too much, too often.

I use ~1/2tsp/gallon of water every couple weeks or so. Actually, since I'm lazy, it's 1tbl/5 gallon bucket of water. I use ProTekt from Dyna-Gro.

Wet
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Wet. Get out of my head. Kthx.
Seriously man, almost every damn time I'm about to reply to correct something you've beat me to it. Stop it. :)

Also guys, I've found that it really helps my plants resistance to PM. *knocks on wood because RH has been a wee bit too high*
 
Robert Paulson

Robert Paulson

Active Member
Well I went ahead and got some dynagrow pro-tekt. i figures i will give her a try and see what happens. thanks for everybody's input.
 
Total Head

Total Head

Well-Known Member
i've been using silica for the past couple grows and it definately helps with heat tolerance and strengthening the stems. it makes an awesome ph up also. i stop using it around flower time. my only beef with the stuff is that it can make lst difficult if the plant isn't already bent, so if you lst a lot you might want to go easy with it.
 
Robert Paulson

Robert Paulson

Active Member
but if you were to get her all bent where you wanted and then added it to the line up it would probably make 'em tougher right? i ScrOG and with some strains the nugs get too heavy and topple, maybe this will help a bit.
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Robert Paulson said:
Well I went ahead and got some dynagrow pro-tekt. i figures i will give her a try and see what happens. thanks for everybody's input.
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Just don't get happy with it. An OD makes your plants look like they were dosed with salt water. So, if you get that, you'll know what it's from.

*I* do just a bit over 1/2tsp/gallon of water. I add 1TBL/5 Gallon bucket, which =6-1/2tsp in the bucket. Never over once/week, and usually more like every 2 weeks.

Wet
 
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