Morning kitty kat. I wanted to say that you give a lot of credit to your man, but I can see who the real brains behind the operation is ;P I bow to your knowledge of pesticides organic and chemical and to your knowledge about AN aand their snakeoil tactics. You are so smart girl.
I wanted to ask you for some help in optimizing my garden. I've been hearing a lot about potassium silicate, and I'm sold, but I've also been hearing about the possible importance of sulfur in a grow...Have you heard or know anything about that? What is it for and what products should I be looking at for it?
Whenever you get the chance, thanks.
thanks for the kind words, beans. mr kitty's grow kungfu is lightyears ahead of mine, i'm just better at stringing big words together.
what a great question! sulfur certainly makes a big difference in plant vigour, especially towards the end imo. the plant requirement of sulfur is high enough that it fits in there with all the "macronutrients". (collective gardener preaches the "importance of sulphur" gospel, as well.)
culled from :
http://www.ncagr.gov/cyber/kidswrld/plant/nutrient.htm
Sulfur
Essential plant food for production of protein.
Promotes activity and development of enzymes and vitamins.
Helps in chlorophyll formation.
Improves root growth and seed production.
Helps with vigorous plant growth and resistance to cold.
from wiki:
Sulphur is a structural component of some amino acids and vitamins, and is essential in the manufacturing of chloroplasts.
Sulfur improves the use efficiency of other essential plant nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus.
Plant requirements for sulfur are equal to or exceed those for phosphorus. It is one of the major nutrients essential for plant growth, root nodule formation of legumes and plants protection mechanisms.
... TL;DR: they need a fair amount of it, photosynthesis couldn't go on without it, and it helps the uptake of other macronutes.
to put it in human terms, sulfur is one of the main reasons our hair and skin don't fall apart in wind and water. (it's called a "disulfate bond")
we use a product called "monster bloom" (grotek of course) -- the shit's crazy: 0-50-30, B1 additive with a magnesium sulfate boost to it as well. if you compare ^that^ budporn with my last porn post you can certainly see the difference.
for the K.I.S.S. el cheapo in you (*smooches*
), magnesium sulfate is also commonly known as "epsom salt." tbh, i've never used storebought epsom salt (the kind you put in the bath) as a fert, so i don't know the first thing about application rates/methods but it can certainly be done, and with great success. keep in mind that epsom salts are quite often used as a bioavailable form of magnesium so it's going to deliver a considerable magnesium payload as well.