Silica in veg with coco?

Nutrients
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Simple question, should I use silica during veg with RO water?

Running autopots with canna coco and jacks 321. Fishes!t, tribus and recharge for microbes.

Planning to top and LST.

Thanks for the help!

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2

I feed silica weekly beginning when I start feeding nutes (~4 weeks from the last transplant.)

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3

I use silica up to the flush, and reduce it by half during flowering. Your branches will be larger and stronger. You will spend much less time, if any, tying up buds that are bending their stems.

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Agreed…every grow until flush.

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Thanks for the help!

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I might add Silica aswell,
Got told at the shop not to use it because it might cause blockages in the Autopots :thinking:
Ive been trouble free after switching to coco though.
:sunglasses:

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So I started useing silica a couple years ago in autopots with coco.
A few grows with no issues.
Then all of a sudden I i started getting a horrible “clear slime” :man_shrugging: that was stopping my lines up completely and was all over everything :sweat:

I tore my system down 3 times furst cleaning with h202, vinegar, and then bleach.
Each time I’d mix fresh nutrients just like alwsys and the slime would come back.
I cleaned again and dropped the silica and no clear slime since :grin:

I’m totally convinced it was the silica.
I’ve no idea why it was fine at first then at some point it wasn’t :man_shrugging:

Many people use it with no issues though.

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Ive had zero issues using silica in a watering system. But i also use 1/2" line. Still clean between runs. No problems with the resorvoir as well. This is using armor si. As far as using in veg…or flower for that matter is optional. Not needed but def beneficial. As cheap as it is, id say its foolish not to use in coco. Stem strengthening is a good benefit, but i also like the added cold and heat resistance benefits as well.

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I will also say…the advanced nutrients bud candy is approved for watering systems/hydro. But that leaves like a foam slime more then anything else from my experience.

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I use Mills Vitalize brand, and it is expensive. I probably would have never bought this brand, but a small bottle came with a Mills starter pack that I picked up. It must be really pure stuff because you only use .5 ml per gallon during veg, and .25 ml during flowering. Mills’ website claims they have proprietary method for the extraction of silicic acid.

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@Ickey Omg, i looked up the mills pricing. Ghat is crazy high. Way to much. 120$ for 500ml of silica. Most silica is potassium silicate, not sure how thats made but armor si is not even 25$ for 1000ml. I hope those nutes are worth it homie, those kits look way to expensive to be worth it.
Also only last 4 weeks of flower is .25 ml. Still .5 into flower for 4 weeks

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Thanks for the heads up on that brother :ok_hand:

I always clean every second fill aswell And I’ve had nothing like that happen.(slime).

Just noticed my last grow had a few buds hanging down ,
So was thinking about using Silica for that reason.

I guess if its not broke dont fix it :grin:

Cheers @1HappyPappy

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Like said I probably wouldn’t be using it, if not for that sample first. I picked up the 250 ml bottle last year for $75, and still have half left.

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@Ickey I thought u bought a sample kit, like there whole line. My bad. Learned something today tho, thats most expensive line ive ever seen.

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Yes I bought the starter kit , complete line, about three years ago for $55 now it is $85. After using up the individual ingredients up I just ordered its replacement from GGM. I think there are a couple lines out there that are more expensive, but Mills is definitely up there. The parts A and B is what makes up about 75% of the mix is the least expensive parts, thank goodness. Mills is the best nutrient line that I have used including Jacks. Great results, and their feeding schedules are very flexible. and the level can easily be adjusted to suit individual plants. A couple of the supplements are organic, and as a result the biological growth will leave a mess the AutoPot reservoir. So I no longer use Mills with the AutoPots, and use Jacks. But prefer Mills in any drain to waste that I run.
I have been taking about Mills for the last couple years, and it seems that I am a lone wolf here on this forum.

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I saw the kits that were 10 liter bases, and 5 liter additives…total of 5 were 900$. I see the starter kit not to bad in comparison. Seems like alot. Ya jacks is still my go to, but for the price you cant beat it. Would love to see two clones compared with the two nute lines. I know hellraiser compared jacks to the advanced lineup, and conclusion was, the advanced tasted slightly “louder” then jacks but at a higher cost. Believe weight was about equal if memory serves. Good info on that mills. Ive heard of it b4 today but that was it.

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I first heard about Mills from some out of state commercial growers that I know. They said, that they use Roots Original soil, and feed with mid strength Mills every other day. As they don’t have time to check each pot to see if it is dry or not. The Roots has good drainage, and will allow for a little overwatering. The Mills line provides an easy and complete nutrition line for them.
They were correct, I have not found anything easier than this combination. Of course, since then I have found that Jacks is just as easy as well.

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@Edword02 G’day mate good topic if ya into silica outdoor soil i suppose indoor synthetic nutrients i not sure,seem silly plant make there own silica in the stems during veg.also plant do not uptake silica potassium from what i have read i have never tried this but seems like a waste mate.is synthetic or you in soil cause is a different story for outdoor vegatables.

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You are correct.
Soil microbes convert silica to silicic acid (plant available form). Without microbes converting the silica, it is not available to the plant and cannot be used.

It’s kinda like useing recharge in coco-coir with synthetic nutrients, the science says its a waste as there’s nothing for the microbes to do :confused: but people sware by it :man_shrugging:

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mono sicilic acid is what is needed with synthetic grows also known as ortho silicic acid. Unlike potassium silicate, it is 100% available immediately upon feeding. It can be used it soil with microbes as well.

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