Silicon Toxicity

[Conformist]

Is there such thing as a silicon toxicity?
Long story short, my pH down is garbage and the only way I've found to keep the pH at 6.3 is by using 3.0 ml of pH down with 1.5ml of dyna-gro Pro-tekt per gallon of water.

If i gave my plants 1 gal of water every 5 days, could i possibly end up with a silicon toxicity in the future?

 

[RonSmooth]

Not at that level. You will be fine.

I used 2.5mL/gal every day from veg to late flowering and did not see any issues.

 

[wildgrow]

Interesting, when I add pro-tekt to my water the ph goes up. I have to use more ph down to get it in range.

 

[dansbuds]

Conformist ... protekt is a PH up . you could not use the protekt & add a half cup of powdered DE per gallon of medium instead for the silica .... its 85% silica . plus it kills any soil bound larva & bugs .... dehydrates them

this is what I use ....http://www.homedepot.com/p/St-Gabri...-Insect-Killer-50020-7/203595834#.UoBGuhCSpOY

 

[Coconutz]

You dont want to breathe any DE dust.
Id avoid it and just use silica. Its the cheapest and best supplement there is.
Its a PH up, not down. Im not sure whats going on with this thread...
The plant wont absorb extra silica, so I dont think you could overdose, except if you added too much your PH would be sky high.
Its one of the most abundant minerals on earth. The soil is loaded with silica.
Liquid nutrients dont contain enough silica because it causes problems in the mix.
Always add silica to your water first, unless heavely diluted. So diluted that it would drop the EC of your mix too far to do it this way(properly).
I use grotek, its the same as protek, at 1ml per gal, but have used it at 2.5ml. I get the same effect either way. The plant doesnt really need much at a constant rate. Ill use 2-2.5 with more acidic nutes just to get the ph where I want it.
You really only need to provide a slight amount at all times so that its in all of the cells because Si is immobile in the plant.
Foliar is great! It raises the Ph of the leaf to combat Pm with the high Ph and stronger cell walls.
I like to apply with a little seaweed extract or sometimes with some magical.

 

[Conformist]

Alright then, this should fix my pH fluctuation issues.

Oh and i know Pro-Tekt is a pH Up but I'm also mixing it with pH Down.
I fill my bucket with 1 gal of 7.0pH tap water, add 3ml of pH Down bringing it to 3.0pH and finally, i add 1.5ml of Pro-Tekt adjusting my pH to 6.3
If i didn't add Pro-Tekt, my pH would be back up to 7.0 after 6 hours.

 

[EclipseFour20]

In researching "Plant Available Silica", some of the experiments reported "leaf phototoxicity" issues when Potassium Silicate was used as a foliar spray.

The thinking is: Potassium increases PH (both in water and on leaf)...and the silicate molecules influence a "mechanical" barrier to form on the leaf, which limits transpiration. Of course, stressed plants do not normally respond well to foliar sprays (period).

Also, the suggested effective rate for Potassium Silicate foliar application can be 10 times the rate for "soil feeding". Ten times...wow!

Cheers!

BTW, other studies concluded excess/constant soil feeding of Potassium Silicate can restrict growth, delay flower development and reduce branching. Yep, excess of "anything" (including water) is no bueno!

 

[Jaymer]

If I am not mistaken I believe silicon acts as a buffer so unless your soil is already drastically saturated with it you should be alright.

 

[EclipseFour20]

Silica? Ahh, we have several "varieties/meanings" of Silica/Siliicon: Soluble, insoluble, monosilicic acid, polysilicic acid, colloidal silicic acid, silicate ion, silica gel...

Guess I know how the Inuit indians felt about the word "snow"...lol!

This source is rather informative--especially the Silica discussion. www.avocadosource.com/papers/research_articles/bekkertf2007e.pdf

Sample:
Silicon is the most widely distributed element in the earth’s crust and constitutes 40-
70% in clay soils, and up to 90-98% in sandy soils as SiO2 (Matichenkov et al., 2000).
As a soil constituent in most of these soils, Si is second only to oxygen; the mean
values being O, 49% and Si, 31%. Two hundred to 800kg.ha-1 Si is removed annually
from soil either through leaching or plant uptake in the form of monosilicic acid.
Anderson and Snyder (1992) found the amount of silicon absorbed by plants to
constitute 70-700kg.ha-1. Most monomers taken up are transformed to amorphous
silica in the epidermal tissue (Lanning and Eleuterius, 1992).
Most monosilicic acid in the soil profile is weakly absorbed and it migrates slowly
through the soil profile (Matichenkov et al., 2000). These authors reported that
increased levels of monosilicic acid in the soil solution resulted in the transformation
of plant-unavailable phosphates into plant available phosphates.
Monosilicic acids may react with Fe, Al and Mn, forming slightly soluble silicate
substances (Lumsdon and Farmer, 1995). Monosilicic acid is also able to react with
heavy metals to form soluble complex compounds and slightly soluble metal silicates
(Matichenkov et al., 2000), but at the same time, high monosilicic acid concentrations
may lead to full precipitation of heavy metals resulting in formation of slightly soluble
silicates.
Polysilicic acids form an integral component of the soil solution and essentially affect
soil structure (Liang et al., 1994). The mechanism of polysilicic acid formation is not
clearly understood. Silicic acid polymerization is assigned to the type of condensable
polymerization (Matichenkov et al., 2000). Unlike monosilicic acid, polysilicic acid is
chemically inert and acts as an absorbent of colloidal particles. Highly soluble in
water, it affects the water holding capacity of soil, adding to its effect on soil
formation and structure (Matichenkov et al., 2000).

Cheers!