is anyone adding silica to your coco ?

S

SeaMaiden

• Jun 28, 2012

• #21

dansbuds said:

Chaos ...thanx for that link to mineral magic ... it looks interesting enough to do some research on .

sea maiden ..... i've been looking into it sense you mentioned it , but i'm having a hard time finding it here on the east coast .... any suppliers you can recommend ?

Click to expand...

Hmm.. unfortunately, no I can't. I get mine from a local feed store, in the form of animal bedding, but here in California we've got a few rice growers. I've been told that peanut shells are a good substitute, so I'm thinking along those general lines--nut shells or hulls.

Or, horsetail fern (though I've never used or grown it). The organic soil section has a good bit written on it, especially from ClackamasCoot and jaykush. You can make a fermented plant extract with it, as well as mulch it, specifically as a source of Si.

First, though, I'll suggest contact feed stores, any place that supplies horse people.

~~~EDIT~~~
D'oh! I see kcoc got you there.

 

opt1c

Active member

Veteran

• Jun 28, 2012

• #22

botanicare makes a product called hydrolite.. i think that is what you are looking for

*just saw your earlier post; looks like u already have it on the way... it's the only one i know about designed to break down... the grow stones and stuff release si really slowly

 

dansbuds

Retired from the workforce Bullshit

ICMag Donor

Veteran

• Jun 28, 2012

• #23

Hmm.. unfortunately, no I can't. I get mine from a local feed store, in the form of animal bedding, but here in California we've got a few rice growers. I've been told that peanut shells are a good substitute, so I'm thinking along those general lines--nut shells or hulls.

Click to expand...

I can get the horse bedding here but didn't think it was the same as the hulls for gardening .... learn something new every day

thanx sea maiden i'll give it a try in a few pots & some hydrolite in others to see if theres a big difference .

 

S

SeaMaiden

• Jun 29, 2012

• #24

I've been told there is a different rice hull product for gardening. I've never used it or seen it, so I use what I can find. Sure, a little of the rice sprouts, so you yank it out.

 

S

St3ve

Member

• Jul 2, 2012

• #25

SeaMaiden said:

I've switched to rice hulls instead of perlite in my coir mixes. I haven't done a coir run in a while now, but one of the goals was to get a slow release of silica so I don't have to purchase yet another product. Haven't had a chance to do a side-by-side with rice hulled coir and non-hulled coir, so I can't tell you whether it works as well or not. My gut says that since it's slow release, if you need a boost of silica quickly then rice hulls wouldn't be it.

Click to expand...

Let us know how it goes.. sounds like a good idea.

 

S

St3ve

Member

• Jul 2, 2012

• #26

Hey SeaMaiden, have you tried Ready Gro Aeration? It appears to have some silica clay, along with coco and some other neat things.

 

S

SeaMaiden

• Jul 3, 2012

• #27

Never heard of it! However, at $22/1.5'cu (or 1.75'cu, both are noted) there's no way it could easily replace the rice hulls. The rice hulls come in a 6'cu bale and the price is about $8/bale. I live on clay (geographically speaking!).

 

Izoc666

Member

• Jul 3, 2012

• #28

good thread, Dansbuds !!

I got a diatomaceous earth from lowes, it contain silica and fine dust that kills insects. I learned someone from other forum...one cup per cubic foot or 50/50 mix ratio. this is just a new to me...so far , I noticed that my organic grow are flying gnat-free. Now im currently Roots Organic CoCo mix with peat moss and perlite plus diatomaceous earth so i can foliar spray on cannabis plant with just pro tekt and neem oil, instead watering. So i dont have any result for this...this is still new to me

thanks for bringing this hydrolite, Ill look into it. Please let me know with your result with hydrolite, thanks.

Happy gardening and peace

 

S

St3ve

Member

• Jul 3, 2012

• #29

SeaMaiden said:

Never heard of it! However, at $22/1.5'cu (or 1.75'cu, both are noted) there's no way it could easily replace the rice hulls. The rice hulls come in a 6'cu bale and the price is about $8/bale. I live on clay (geographically speaking!).

Click to expand...

Well.. I wouldn't mind trying the rice hulls, but I can't find them anywhere around here.

I've been just mixing a bag of cocoa with chunky perlite which is way cheaper than buying bags of the Aeration formula. I just liked the idea of getting silica to the plants.

 

S

stagehand099

Member

• Jul 4, 2012

• #30

St3ve said:

Well.. I wouldn't mind trying the rice hulls, but I can't find them anywhere around here.

I've been just mixing a bag of cocoa with chunky perlite which is way cheaper than buying bags of the Aeration formula. I just liked the idea of getting silica to the plants.

Click to expand...

If you have a NAPA Auto Parts store around, get some bags of their oil absorbent granules. It is made of calcined diatomacious earth and is sized like kitty litter. It will break down slowly and add silica as it does. $6.00 a bag around here. Good shit.

stagehand

 

Treetroit City

Moderately Super

Veteran

• Jul 7, 2012

• #31

Dans, check out rare earth.

http://www.progressive-growth.com/proddetail.php?prod=19040

 

E

ElPiloto

Member

• Jul 9, 2012

• #32

I grow in bags and I use a 1" layer of silica sand on the bottom and about 1/2" on the top of a soil less mixture. It helps to balance the ph and slowly adds silica to the mix.

It's cheap too. Around $10 per 100 pound bag at Home Depot. I use #30 or #20 grit size.

 

N

nickdiaz209

Member

• Jul 10, 2012

• #33

Yes I use it to raise the pH of my EJC before I add it to the feed.

 

P

Puffley

• Jul 17, 2013

• #34

Hey dansbuds how did the silica thing work out for you? I'm in the same boat and would like to provide silica to my plants through the medium. Were you able to line the bottom of the bucket with silica stone? Would be perfect for hempy buckets.

 

dansbuds

Retired from the workforce Bullshit

ICMag Donor

Veteran

• Jul 18, 2013

• #35

right now i just add DE right to my coco as i transplant . 1 cup per 2 gallons of coco . its been working great

 

P

Puffley

• Jul 18, 2013

• #36

Thanks I'll keep that in mind.

 

indianajones

Member

• Jul 18, 2013

• #37

dansbuds said:

right now i just add DE right to my coco as i transplant . 1 cup per 2 gallons of coco . its been working great

Click to expand...

same thing here, but 1 cup per 5 gallons. might give it a try with more DE next time. i also do not use pure coco, i do a mix of
coco/perlite/verm/coco based organic soil. enough organic nutrition to sustain the plants for a few weeks, then head's formula.

 

stoned40yrs

Ripped since 1965

Veteran

• Feb 12, 2014

• #38

Hey Dansbuds is that DE still working out for you?

 

Treetroit City

Moderately Super

Veteran

• Feb 12, 2014

• #39

Adding DE to coco does not do anything negative to the plants.

It does help with the gnat thing. If it adds anything beyond that I'm not sure but for those reasons I'll keep using it.

 

dansbuds

Retired from the workforce Bullshit

ICMag Donor

Veteran

• Feb 12, 2014

• #40

Its 85% silica 3rd .... & you know what silica does for the girls , we,ve talked about it a few times . my floppy biesels aren't floppy as much anymore & i haven't seen a critter in my pots yet . some people tell me i'm nuts , but i see a huge difference in the frost with it compared to not using it . BIG difference .
i loved Protekt , but i can get passed that i have to readjust the PH back down cuz it raises my PH outa range . so i stick to the DE .