Silicon Dioxide for Plant Health
- Thread starter NoWaistedSpace
- Start date
619KGB
PICK YOUR OWN
SP volcano in AZ was a leaker too. When the cone forms too fast the blow out the side bet some of the minerals they are taking about can be sourced state side. Great topic and use a few different types of volcanic rocks Scoria (fines more dust) DG pumice the foam on the top and wood charcoal. Perfect for tap water and no PH pen
NoWaistedSpace
PICK YOUR OWN
I've just been researching Silicon
Wollastanite is a good source of Silicon and Calcium
(48% CaO and 52% SiO2). Cal Carb Equivalent 76.0%. Soluble-grade and at least 95% pure (may contain trace amounts of iron, manganese and magnesium)
I'm in "glacial runoff' here.
crimsonecho
Self-Proclaimed Don Quixote
ok was reading on silica a week ago or something and the thing i learned about it that the best form of silica you can add to soil is the plant accumulated form because that silica has already been converted to plant available form (silicic acid) so its easier for the plants to take up again once the original plant material decomposes. i lost the link to the study i read this stuff but if i stumble upon it i’m gonna post that too. you can google silica accumulators and compost those plants to boost the available silica in your soil.
NoWaistedSpace
PICK YOUR OWN
I posted a video last week in here with Dr. Bruce Bugby about Silica uptake in plants.
H.A.F.
a.k.a. Rusty Nails
Completely anecdotal.
I use rice hulls for mulch. The worms love them and they don't compact like a lot of other mulches, so as they get mixed into the soil it's good aeration until they become soil. The cover crops grow right through them easier than most stuff. It's almost like topping the pots off with perlite.
They are also very high in silica. I started using them at the same time that I stopped using bottled nutes (which included a silica additive) and I have seen no drop-off in plant stability, structure, or anything else attributed to silica.
I feed my worms stuff that is high in lots of minerals as well.
I use rice hulls for mulch. The worms love them and they don't compact like a lot of other mulches, so as they get mixed into the soil it's good aeration until they become soil. The cover crops grow right through them easier than most stuff. It's almost like topping the pots off with perlite.
They are also very high in silica. I started using them at the same time that I stopped using bottled nutes (which included a silica additive) and I have seen no drop-off in plant stability, structure, or anything else attributed to silica.
I feed my worms stuff that is high in lots of minerals as well.
H.A.F.
a.k.a. Rusty Nails
Considering this, there is one plant we all know that is a massive bio-accumulator of every single element that is needed by cannabis plants:
cannabis plants.
I was doing a "chop-n-drop" with cover crop and leaf prunings but I was skeptical about having that much greenage on the topsoil - got it confirmed on one show or another where that was the topic. I remove all my pruning, trimming, culls, and any other weed leftovers right down to picking the stems out of buds I am smoking and it all gets dried. I use that as a large part of my worm bedding when I start a new tray.
I also have some that is finely sifted that I do put back in the pots with top-dressings
crimsonecho
Self-Proclaimed Don Quixote
you’re putting in more silica just by using rice hulls. i dont have it around me nowhere sells it so i cant. i do compost every bit of my plants as well but for an extra silica boost rice hulls, grass and some monocots seem to work much better than cannabis and of course when you compost that, some of the silica will return back to the soil and thats always what i’m after. so yeah of course compost the plant haha.
but on the other hand i’ve seen this study just now so wanted to post it here in the silica thread. it shows reduced dry matter yields in both petunias and sunflowers, though the flower weight reduction in petunias isnt statistically significant, it seems the reduction in sunflower is.
Slowdrawl
PICK YOUR OWN
Comfrey is one of the best bio accumulators you can compost with.
Not sure of the percentage of silica but I know it accumulates it.
I bought the bocking 14 when I had my outdoor gardens.
I grew it just for composting and top dressing my raised beds.
I could get 4 to 5 full harvests each summer.
Fox tail is another noted with high silica content.
I just never wanted to risk it anywhere near my gardens....seriously invasive!
Interesting about the petunias and sunflowers. I always had petunia in the yard
and composted everything I grew, didn't know it was so helpful.
Not sure of the percentage of silica but I know it accumulates it.
I bought the bocking 14 when I had my outdoor gardens.
I grew it just for composting and top dressing my raised beds.
I could get 4 to 5 full harvests each summer.
Fox tail is another noted with high silica content.
I just never wanted to risk it anywhere near my gardens....seriously invasive!
Interesting about the petunias and sunflowers. I always had petunia in the yard
and composted everything I grew, didn't know it was so helpful.
H.A.F.
a.k.a. Rusty Nails
I have some comfrey I started in a few select spots around the property to see where it will take well. From seed though so it'll be a bit before it gets useful.
NoWaistedSpace
PICK YOUR OWN
I'm glad you all know a good bit about this subject.
It's an interesting topic and quite important to a plants health.
It's an interesting topic and quite important to a plants health.
H.A.F.
a.k.a. Rusty Nails
I get mine from a rice farm that also sells their rice partially cooked - they boil or steam that rice in the hulls or whatever for long enough to pre-cook the rice, then sell those hulls to the brewing supply stores
