Can anyone recommend a silicon soil additive available in the US?

[green54321]

Does sand with a high percentage of silicon work?

I'm seeing lots of options to add to nute mixes, but would much rather find a soil mix.

Thanks

 

[MrMMJ]

Look into rice hulls !

 

[RB56]

I use Agsil 16H Potassium Silicate I get from Build A Soil. It's a powder you mix with water. Cheaper than the pre-mixed versions. Raises pH which is great if your pH is too low, not so much otherwise.

 

[green54321]

Look into rice hulls !

Do those effect PH at all?

 

[Cannavore]

agsil 16h. use as a drench and foliar. rice hulls are superior to perlite and probably offer trace Si over a long period of time as they begin to break down, also.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRdj77xjH6X/

 

[green54321]

Agsil 16H Potassium Silicate

I see that this can be mixed and used as a foliar or nute additive...


Is it advisable to just add it to the soil mix?

 

[RB56]

I see that this can be mixed and used as a foliar or nute additive...


Is it advisable to just add it to the soil mix?

That's what I do.

 

[jaybodankly]

Horsetail is a plant high in Silica. Used by a lot by biodynamic folks.

 

[DrLongbottom]

amend your soil with Diatomaceous Earth

 

[beta]

You want silica, not silicon - They're two different things.

AgSil 16H is great if you're looking for a soil amendment, and I prefer Protekt Silica in my rez.

 

[green54321]

That's what I do.

Cool, good do hear.

Do you have to do anything to balance the PH with that?

Currently I use Fox Farms OC, perlite and dolomite lime, so if I could just add AgSil to that mix that would work great.

 

[green54321]

You want silica, not silicon - They're two different things.
AgSil 16H is great if you're looking for a soil amendment

Yes, *silica* is what I meant.

Do you have any experience with whether or not this effects the PH of the soil much?

 

[Cannavore]

putting agsil powder right into the soil? never heard of that before and personally i wouldn't do it. it doesn't sound good since you dilute roughly 550g of the powder in a gallon of pure water, then add a teaspoon of that per gallon to your feed or foliar.

if you're using fox farm soil i presume you're using something like botanicare pbp? just add it to your feed i don't see why you're so hung up with using it as a dry amendment.

diatomaceous earth i've never used in large amounts in soil but that stuff can cake up pretty quickly. azomite and other rock dusts have trace amounts of Si. look into oyster shell flour to replace dolomite lime also.

 

[green54321]

if you're using fox farm soil i presume you're using something like botanicare pbp? just add it to your feed i don't see why you're so hung up with using it as a dry amendment.

I don't know that I'm "hung up on it" but it would be a lot easier to do that way. Sure, adding it to my flower nutes is easy, but with FFOF I don't really use other nutes during veg and my veg space is pretty tight for a folier, so I'd have to pull them out from under the lights every time I sprayed. If that's the only realistic option, so be it. But it doesn't seem like that ridiculous of an idea to check on to me.

 

[green54321]

diatomaceous earth i've never used in large amounts in soil but that stuff can cake up pretty quickly.

Wouldn't mixing it in with the rest of the soil mix keep it from caking up?

 

[truck]

silica derived from bamboo. TeaCo has a very concentrated powder that i like. Its 65% silica way better than i've seen in any liquid form.

 

[metsäkana]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmorillonite



ghe mineral magic got this in it

 

[redlaser]

Build a soil started carrying a silica derived from rice hulls that is 99% silica, and doesn't affect ph.
Calcium silicate is another option, one I would use as a soil amendment. Vansil is a brand of calcium silicate, is also called wollastinite.

Not sure where I read it, but my understanding is that silica is much more efficiently uptaken through roots, versus foliar feeding. As I remember, very little is absorbed through foliar.

 

[Ibechillin]

Diatomaceous earth mixes with water well, i foliar spray it 1-2 tablespoons to 1 gallon of water to kill/prevent mites etc.

Its advertised its good for people and animals to drink it mixed with water as well. (Food grade)

You could just add some to your feed water like any other powder nutrient, like mentioned it will probably affect ph.

 

[green54321]

Build a soil started carrying a silica derived from rice hulls that is 99% silica, and doesn't affect ph.

https://buildasoil.com/products/grow-sil-natural-silica

This looks perfect, thanks!

I wonder how much of that would be a proper dose for a 5 gallon soil grow.