Ya I don’t think first or last is wrong either way. In my case, I feel like my feed is what I’m targeting and the silica is just a little extra. So if I drop 3-5 ml into a cup of water and my ph hits my target before I get it all in, I’m perfectly fine with not getting the full 3-5ml of silica into my solution.
Of course I’m a soil grower too, so a little goes a long way and probably doesn’t need to be added at all in most cases. The hydro guys may feel a little differently, but I don’t feel like they use a lot either. I think that just as you use opposite, having solution mixed well is key.
I personally haven’t used silica in hydro yet. I believe silica is a good product in hydro and in soil, my laziness just prevented me from adding it when I started hydro
I retract this statement and everything that followed it after the gears have had time to spin lol. All these different elements are taken up optimally at different pH’s.
I’ll wait for the engine to get fully warm before I answer next time
My only comment is: as long as it makes it into the medium, who cares? The microorganisms in the media (except hydro) have to break it down to make it available to the plant. Also; I would submit that if your PH changes upon adding silica that it by definition has to be soluble. Otherwise your PH meter wouldn’t be affected.
Unfortunately as i get my info from so many different places / sites its hard to remember where what came from!
Ive found this today on one site…
" Sadly, the one place silicon cannot be used to grow cannabis is when it is grown hydroponically. That is the reason that hydro-grown plants are a little weaker. The reason? In order for Silicon to stay soluble, it requires a pH higher than 7."
If i remember the pH 6.9 came from another forum where that was suggested to be a sort of safe go between, high enough for the silicon and low enough for the plant but cant find it to quote!
The way ive been using the silicon is first add the feed to the water, then put the silicon in a separate jug and add water, leave it to sit for a few mins and then slowly add to the water / feed
One thing to add is that the pH is then always 6.9 without using any ph up or down?!?
One more thing to add is that there is a good chance that ive been following advice aimed at hydro growers and im in soil so ive prob been doing it all wrong anyways!
Looks plenty dense enough you could probably justify removal of a few fan leaves. You should probably treat it as more of an ongoing process though. Instead of stripping entire plant, grab a few today, then wait day or two and grab a few more, until you feel you’ve opened up the canopy a satisfying amount. When you’re inside of a couple weeks to harvest you give a more aggressive stripping if you want.
Umm, I feel like it’s quite the opposite. Dirt will already have some silica in it, so it’s rarely needed when you grow in soil. But I would venture to say a little bit can help. That’s why I use it the way I do. But hydroponically there’s usually not high enough silica content in water.
This makes me laugh. Seems like any reasonable hydro plant I’ve seen grows way faster than in soil and there’s nothing weak about them. Perhaps this particular persons idea of silica use is the reason his hydro plants are not as good?
Ya I need to go down to my chemical room and have a lookskie. I hope it’s down there because I only used it once and can’t remember it’s name but I am almost positive that I have some silica that’s specifically made for hydro.
I got a room full of growing chemicals that mainly just sit there lol
Hmm. Nothing wrong with a product like that, but I’m not sure about recommended dosage times. It seems like most manufacturers would recommend that kind of product to be used around week 3 of 12/12.
Well, I used to use silica from the beginning until the stretch ended. Then @Majiktoker or someone told me I should keep using it, so I use it for the whole grow until I flush.
Just so you know, I’ve done this now on the last three plants I cut down (blueberry auto, blackberry kush, and gold leaf).