Does silica kill beneficials?

I was looking around and never could find a definitive answer on this so I thought I would make a post and get some responses and theories here. Does silica have any negative effects on the beneficials, bacteria and so forth in your organic soil or teas? So what is your take on the issue my friend, please post a response if you have the time, Thanks everyone. Good luck, Good grow, Be safe, out.

mycomaster said:

I was looking around and never could find a definitive answer on this so I thought I would make a post and get some responses and theories here. Does silica have any negative effects on the beneficials, bacteria and so forth in your organic soil or teas? So what is your take on the issue my friend, please post a response if you have the time, Thanks everyone. Good luck, Good grow, Be safe, out.

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The earth contains roughly 30% silica, its available throughout the entirety of a plants life. It will not destroy microbial life because it's not a salt, most common form is potassium silicate. You can certainly over do it so use sparingly...or you can ammend your soil with par boiled rice hulls...they're excellent aeration and are roughly 8% silica and becomes available relatively soon.

Thanks man was looking for a straight forward answer and got one. Very helpful! Good luck, Good grow, Be safe, out.

Same ? but was wondering if Bonts Sweet,Raw are killers of the good bennies?
Reading.... Teaming with Mics and have not got that far just yet.
Beech

It will not. Diatomaceous Earth is 86% silica.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Diatomaceous-Earth_vq21.htm

Ive used that stuff to kill knats, so what is the purpose of silica and Any proven benefits?

POH Organics said:

The earth contains roughly 30% silica, its available throughout the entirety of a plants life. It will not destroy microbial life because it's not a salt, most common form is potassium silicate. You can certainly over do it so use sparingly...or you can ammend your soil with par boiled rice hulls...they're excellent aeration and are roughly 8% silica and becomes available relatively soon.

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By definition, potassium silicate IS a salt. Regardless, it won't harm your soil life if you use it in moderation.

Ive been growing for years and have never heard of silica being used to kill gnats Silica.The list of benefits that silica provides to plant health is lengthy. Any grower who is serious about growing strong beastly plants should consider adding silica to their normal feeding program.. Some of the most important benefits are stronger cell walls, increased resistance to pathogens and pests, increased resistance to environmental stress, and enhanced metabolic functions .

May11th said:

Ive used that stuff to kill knats, so what is the purpose of silica and Any proven benefits?

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The Silica in Diatomaceous Earth isn't what kills the Fungas Gnats, it's the fact that the Diatom skeleton's are very sharp so essentially the Fungas Gnat's Larva is getting ripped to shreds as it moves through the soil.

If you're using rock dust minerals like Azomite you're getting all of the Silica that you need.

I use liquid silica in my grows. It aides in helping cell division and uptake of food and water. This results in sturdier stalks and stems and better usage of food and nutrients during photosynthesis .This also increase root size and production which all mean bigger flowers and yeilds at the end.

FilthyFletch said:

I use liquid silica in my grows. It aides in helping cell division and uptake of food and water. This results in sturdier stalks and stems and better usage of food and nutrients during photosynthesis .This also increase root size and production which all mean bigger flowers and yeilds at the end.

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Right on brutha! I use Dyna-Gro Protekt in my teas and it doesn't seem to kill beneficials. You can even foliar feed with it.

I've been using Dyna-Gro's Pro-tekt (liquid silica) for years, and in every kind of growing medium. I use Super Plant Tonic for my source of micro life, and use it weekly. IME it doesn't harm the micro life, if you use it like recommended on the label. I'm sure others have already pointed it out, but Silica is a very abundant mineral on earth. It's in every soil, everywhere on the planet. It really helps plants build a sturdy structure, that can hold more bud weight So, its very safe to say, in moderation, Silica is not an enemy of most micro life.

It depends on the silica. If you buy bottled liquid silica. Usually its made from potassium silicate which is a chemical and/or synthetic. That will kill beneficial bacteria, fungi , and enzymes. Diatomaceous earth is organic. Green sand too. But green sand takes few years to break down. Diatomaceous earth is pointless for gnats and other insects. As soon as it gets wet it clumps up and has no effect on bugs.

Potassium silicate will not harm beneficial microbes. In water, it breaks down into silica (silicon dioxide) and an elemental potassium derivative. Plants intake both leaving no residue of either (if proper application methods are applied) to build up in your soil to kill your microbes or make them dormant. Microorganisms break down silicon aka sand in the earth, converting it to silica and/or monosilicic acid. It's a natural process and is part of the soil web. Using Potassium silicate is safe for beneficial microbes.

However, I would watch out for products that contain Sodium silicate. Sodium is not utilized by the plant so it builds up in your soil creating a salt build up. THIS will kill your microbes as sodium is detrimental to any beneficial microorganism. I'm using Simply Silica from Supreme Growers which is a 4% potassium silicate product that has been working great in my organic soils.

hyroot said:

It depends on the silica. If you buy bottled liquid silica. Usually its made from potassium silicate which is a chemical and/or synthetic. That will kill beneficial bacteria, fungi , and enzymes. Diatomaceous earth is organic. Green sand too. But green sand takes few years to break down. Diatomaceous earth is pointless for gnats and other insects. As soon as it gets wet it clumps up and has no effect on bugs.

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Some bottles are USDA NOP approved via scientific analysis. Pro-tek is one of them.

I have no evidence for this, but it seems to me Azomite is more slowly available than some other forms of silica. I do use Azomite in my soil mix, but I make a silica tea, using a product called Montana Grow (pure silica). I add the leftover solids from the tea and add to my "brewing" SuperSoil.

hyroot said:

It depends on the silica. If you buy bottled liquid silica. Usually its made from potassium silicate which is a chemical and/or synthetic. That will kill beneficial bacteria, fungi , and enzymes. Diatomaceous earth is organic. Green sand too. But green sand takes few years to break down. Diatomaceous earth is pointless for gnats and other insects. As soon as it gets wet it clumps up and has no effect on bugs.

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I use Dyna Gro ProTekt in my organic teas. Within 24 hours of bubbling I have plenty of foam. 48 hours even more foam. Good sign it's not hurting anything. I super crop a lot and this stuff gives my stems "angry boyfriend knuckles". IMO dolomite lime provides enough silica if you want to go that route.

On another thread I posted an idea to make Horsetail ash with corn cob or eggshell ash. Makes a water-soluble stable Silicate. If the ash is fine enough this could be sprayed, but the ash probably wouldn't be cool for the leaf surfaces. This isn't pure Silicate.

But this would be fine for the soil instead of Agsil-16 I'm currently thinking

1%-2% greensand in your planting mixes that you plan on using for long term growing will do the trick. For fast results ProteKt will work safely. Go fully organic with horsetail, stinging nettle and ect. teas.

Just want to note that just because a substance is "synthetic" or synthetically derived it doesn't automatically imply "microbe killer". Everything in the world is essentially made up of matter and chemicals, including microbes themselves. The basic definition of 'chemical' is a purified or prepared substance or compound. This could include table sugar (sucrose), table salt (NaCl), potassium silicate, calcium carbonate, magnesium sulfate, cellulose, lignin, ATP, etc. Chemical reactions take place in nature all around us, inside of us, and in laboratories.

Potassium silicate, calcium carbonate, magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride, are all examples of "salts": neutral ionic compounds that form when an acid reacts with a base. Water soluble salts dissociate into their anion and cation components when dissolved in water, as Tmac402 described.

Many of these are obtained from geological sources; mined minerals, but they could also be produced synthetically. Sulfuric acid + magnesium oxide or carbonate will yield magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (epsom salt). Calcium oxide + water will give calcium hydroxide, add carbon dioxide gas and you'll get calcium carbonate. The ever popular baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) + vinegar (acetic acid) reaction aka volcano experiment yields sodium acetate, water and carbon dioxide.