A Guide To Colloidal Silver
Introduction:
Ok, so a lot of people around here have been asking the same questions about Colloidal Silver over and over, and I don't blame them. The information is generally scattered, and if you manage to find a good post here and there, chances are you will find a few more contradicting it, making it difficult to sort the useful information from the myths.
What is Colloidal Silver:
Colloidal Silver the mixture of pure distilled water, and pure (0.9999) silver. It is created by running current through silver electrodes that are placed water, which causes microscopic particles of silver (colloids) to break off and become suspended in the water.
How does Colloidal Silver work on cannabis plants:
Many people believe that Colloidal Silver spray works by burning, or otherwise stressing a female plant, forcing it to "hermie", or make pollen sacs. This is completely false. As you will see later in this post, real Colloidal Silver doesn't harm the plant in any way, shape, or form.
Colloidal Silver works by being composed of particles so small, that they can easily pass through the plants cells. Once the Colloidal Silver particles are in the plant, they bond to the existing copper molecules. Normal female cannabis plants, use these copper molecules to produce the hormone Ethylene, which is what "tells" them that they are supposed to make normal female flowers (calyxes with pistils). When the Colloidal Silver bonds with the copper molecules, this is inhibited and the plant instead produces pollen sacs.
*Note: These are still female flowers. Just female pollen sacs. Not male flowers.
Why are seeds made with Colloidal Silver "feminized":
First of all, "feminized" is a bad term. That implies that something was done to the seeds to cause them to turn out to be female. This is not the case. All of the pollen you collect from a Colloidal Silver reversed plant will be completely normal except for one thing. There is no chance of it carrying a Y-chromosome because it was created by a female plant and female plants have double X-chromosomes. Therefore, when you use this female pollen (all x-chromosomes) on a female flower, it forms a double x chromosome offspring (a female).
Store-bought "Colloidal Silver":
Why is "Colloidal Silver" in quotes? It is in quotes, because most of the stuff you buy that is pre-made, is either:
A) Not real colloidal silver
or
B) Very little real Colloidal Silver with other stuff added.
This means it is usually very weak, and not very effective. Often times, the particles in these mixtures are far to large to permeate the plant's cell walls, or not pure silver. Either way, the stuff will most likely sit on top of your plant's surface, and burn/suffocate/deform it. If you end up getting pollen sacs to form, it MAY be because of the limited real Colloidal Silver in the mixture you bought, or because the burning effects of the spray stressed the plant to the point of making emergency pollen sacs (hermie). Often times these plants look burned and in overall terrible condition. They also usually produce a lot of pistils even on the sprayed areas, amongst the forced pollen sacs.
Can you use store bought "Colloidal Silver" spray and get Female Seeds? Yes.
Should you? No.
Why? You risk just killing your plant without getting any reversing, sterile pollen sacs if you do get any, and still very little pollen if you manage to get some that is viable.
How can I tell if my Colloidal Silver is real:
Pour your”Colloidal Silver” mixture into a clear glass with smooth walls, and shine a cheap laser pointer through it. You should be able to see the entire beam (it reflects off of the silver micro-particles), and also a lack of floating debris (often black bits). This is called the Tyndall Effect.
It should look like this. (Note the ppm. Some store-bought stuff says 240+ but the beam is barely visible if at all, let alone multiple times brighter like it should be.
I'm sure it will help others.
