How to use Silica?

[Glizzy2x]

What’s up y’all! Starting to run Gold Shield Silica by Blue Planet Nutrients tomorrow on my girls. Just a few questions on how to best use it. Now I’ve read that silica needs a pH of 7 in order to be soluble so
should I not ph down my water-silica mix to 6.3? Will keeping it at a ph of 7 harm my plants? Also I’m planning on using it maybe once a week in the roots for rn then later twice a week as a foliar spray. Any other tips & tricks for using this is appreciated, thanks y’all!

 

[MotaZona]

 

[FromFrostLane]

My last grow, I used Armor SI (0-0-4) for the first time growing out my Anvil and Ace of Spades utilizing a 17gal reservoir, feeding 3 times a day, drain to waste.

I found that in a 2 gallon watering can, adding silica first and mixing slowly and then adding in other nutrients afterwards, was completely fine.
Adding it in quick, makes it coagulate! lol.

What I did from keeping it from crashing out (precipitating) in the reservoir, and grant you I'm using tap water measured out the faucet at 7.9-8.4, was to add it first before all other nutrients and let it mix from the airstones in the reservoir for about 30 mins-1 hour. From there, in order, I added cal-mag, Maxi-bloom, Hydroguard, and yucca (surfactant). Once all those were added, PH adjust the water. For me, I found 5.6-5.8 good in veg then upping to ~6.2 to finish in flower.

I kept Silica in the mix until I was around week 2 or 3 into flower. Afterwards, I just omitted it and kept everyting else the same until harvest.

Hope this helps!

 

[Glizzy2x]

My last grow, I used Armor SI (0-0-4) for the first time growing out my Anvil and Ace of Spades utilizing a 17gal reservoir, feeding 3 times a day, drain to waste.

I found that in a 2 gallon watering can, adding silica first and mixing slowly and then adding in other nutrients afterwards, was completely fine.
Adding it in quick, makes it coagulate! lol.

What I did from keeping it from crashing out (precipitating) in the reservoir, and grant you I'm using tap water measured out the faucet at 7.9-8.4, was to add it first before all other nutrients and let it mix from the airstones in the reservoir for about 30 mins-1 hour. From there, in order, I added cal-mag, Maxi-bloom, Hydroguard, and yucca (surfactant). Once all those were added, PH adjust the water. For me, I found 5.6-5.8 good in veg then upping to ~6.2 to finish in flower.

I kept Silica in the mix until I was around week 2 or 3 into flower. Afterwards, I just omitted it and kept everyting else the same until harvest.

Hope this helps!

Thanks a lot! I’m growing organic so I won’t be using liquid nutrients just dry amendment’s further down the line (using Roots Organics & Great Lakes Living soil, shouldn’t need the amendments for a while, the only liquid being the silica.) Based off of what you just said, I’m going to pH the water-silica mix down to what I normally pH too & adjust from there. I’ll also stop using week 2-3 into flowering. Thanks again!

 

[FromFrostLane]

Hell yeah man! Well, Maxibloom was the powder version and that was the only nutrients I used the entire run.

Currently, I am attempting to do what you are, running organic (close to), with dry amendments.

 

[JP1]

My last grow, I used Armor SI (0-0-4) for the first time growing out my Anvil and Ace of Spades utilizing a 17gal reservoir, feeding 3 times a day, drain to waste.

I found that in a 2 gallon watering can, adding silica first and mixing slowly and then adding in other nutrients afterwards, was completely fine.
Adding it in quick, makes it coagulate! lol.

What I did from keeping it from crashing out (precipitating) in the reservoir, and grant you I'm using tap water measured out the faucet at 7.9-8.4, was to add it first before all other nutrients and let it mix from the airstones in the reservoir for about 30 mins-1 hour. From there, in order, I added cal-mag, Maxi-bloom, Hydroguard, and yucca (surfactant). Once all those were added, PH adjust the water. For me, I found 5.6-5.8 good in veg then upping to ~6.2 to finish in flower.

I kept Silica in the mix until I was around week 2 or 3 into flower. Afterwards, I just omitted it and kept everyting else the same until harvest.

Hope this helps!

gotta add it 1st and let sit, then calmag, then sit, then nutes. If you mix them together too quickly they literally turn to sheetrock/gypsum. Order of operations is key. You'll see the gunk sitting in the rez if you don't do it right

 

[Drownomatic]

I'm using water from the dehumidifier.

I add silica first, shake, and let it sit an hour or so, then calmag, then the nutes.

I'm growing in soil, and only mix what I need for the day.

 

[Delps8]

I'm using water from the dehumidifier.

Unless you're certain that the water coming from the dehu is pure, you might want to get those few gallons from a known good source. There could be some organic materials (dehus are warm, therefore, they might harbor bacteria) and, despite the ubiquity of plastic in consumer goods, you might want to check that there's no metal in the dehu that could leach into the runoff.

 

[Drownomatic]

Its a brand new dehumidifier. PPM is near zero.

 

[Delps8]

Its a brand new dehumidifier. PPM is near zero.

So there's something in the waste water that's carrying a charge. Interesting.

Just for the heck of it, I'm going to fire up my dehu and check the PPM.