First DWC. overwhelmed with names and chemicals and additives

[godspeed2k86]

Props to you for reading all my ramblings and dumb questions haha.

my water is 8.0 right from the tap.

when I add my silica it brings the ph to 10!!!

I then add 1ml/gal of a potent ph down and it gets me to 6.2 or so.

then I add the cal mag.

good question on the ph though. I also don’t let it sit for an hour. Maybe 2-3 mins

Do yourself a favor and stop using potassium silica or silicon dioxide products. They are not readily available for plant uptake. Get yourself a good monosalistc acid. Best one imo is Aptus Fasilitor, second best imo MSA stout, and I am currently running Front row AG Si which is a 10% monosalastic only .5ml per gal and like $70 a quart. Thats what im am running this round

 

[User59204626117]

Yeah that standard hydroponic ph down is junk. I’m loving that heavy stuff haha. It works awesome!

I will definitely let the silica mix longer.

interesting info on the cal mag. I actually upped my dose recently. My chart says 5ml per gallon but the bottle says 10ml so I use around 7ml per gallon.

that silica information is interesting too. I will look into that. Mine is the potassium stuff right now

 

[godspeed2k86]

Monosalastic Acid is also a Acid so the only effect it has on your ph is it lowers it slightly.

 

[User59204626117]

A quick google search seems that you’re totally right. Very interesting

“Take potassium silicatesas an example. Its molecules are too large to penetrate our plants cell walls. Microbes will have to convert it into silicic acid before the roots can take up the silicon. ... Silicic acid is therefore the most effective silicon additive since it's 100% bioavailable”

“So, plants cannot take up or use potassium silicate. First, bacteria must convert it to monosilicic acid.

Therefore, applying potassium silicate does not have the same effects as applying monosilicic acid. Plants will not be able to experience the benefits of silicon until weeks or months after you apply potassium silicate.”

 

[User59204626117]

That aptus facilitator is $250 for 250ml or $1000 a liter?!

seems like it stops stretching and makes them shorter and thicker.

power.si and osa28 seems to be good alternatives.

Also seems that people foliar spray with these silica products?

Power si is “the original, patented formula of bio-available silica for plants with the added benefit of amino acids. Silicon (in the form of Silicic Acid)”


so silicic acid seems to be the trick here. I’ve heard a ton of good things about power si and that’s why.

I went to the hydro store asking to buy power si and they sold me silica up instead with potassium silica. Aka junk.

 

[PK1]

like @Aquaman mentioned, each acid has its own benefits.

 

[User59204626117]

Seems like all those good silicas are extremely expensive and almost banned or impossible to get in Canada?

 

[User59204626117]

Seems like there’s a few options in Canada. Seems like good stuff. Hard to find it right though. Kinda expensive too. But seems legit. I read nothing but amazing things about it. Hmmm

Edit. That cyco stuff is potassium derived. Hence the price. The proper silica stuff seems expensive af and the cheap stuff seems like the wrong kind.

 

[PK1]

I had to use 7ml root farm ph down (Canadian tire) vs 1.75ml of that potent ph down you have. And It would take 3 days to stabilize vs 2 days with your battery acid.

who says sulfate acid/battery acid takes 2 days?

 

[User59204626117]

What do you mean stabilize?

3 days, 2 days. Seems like a long time and damn near the same thing really.

I don’t like how my silica is a ph up. Wtf. Why would I want to go from 8 to 10 just to bring it down to 6. Seems like I’d save on the ph down if I wasn’t using a ph up.

why go 2 steps up and 4 down. Just go 2 down right off the bat.

I all of a sudden really don’t like my silica up bottle.

ugh. I really shouldn’t be blowing $150 on my 22nd bottle of nutrients when I got hard parts that need to be replaced and fixed first.

 

[PK1]

well thats what im wondering.

 

[PK1]

lol, i let you know on a trick. i don't use ph up at all and my tap water is the only way that my ph comes up. I totally relay on my sulfate acid to keep my ph in range of 5.8

 

[User59204626117]

Yeah I wouldn’t either. Who would and why would you want to? ph up seems useless and hardly not needed anywhere. Like ever.

So not sure why my potassium silica bottle includes ph up properties. That’s two strikes against it.

When I accidentally add too much ph down I’ll also add a little tap water to bring it up. I keep my hydro stuff around 6.0 and soil is 6.3

 

[Stugots]

Yeah I wouldn’t either. Who would and why would you want to? ph up seems useless and hardly not needed anywhere. Like ever.

So not sure why my potassium silica bottle includes ph up properties. That’s two strikes against it.

When I accidentally add too much ph down I’ll also add a little tap water to bring it up. I keep my hydro stuff around 6.0 and soil is 6.3

Yea I’m sure a lot of people just drain a little out the Rez and top off with tap to bring ph up(if their tap water is acceptable like ours). I got my Advanced Nutrients Ph up and down for $40 Cdn on sale, but I still haven’t cracked the seal on the ph up.

Sorry, By stabilize I just meant the ph swings aren’t as big with the phosphoric acid vs cheap ph down like Root Farm or General Hydroponics in general. I was putting 7ml of Root Farm to get to 5.7, next day would be at 6.4. Bring back down 5.7(using maybe 1ml+), then it would climb to 6.2/6.3 after 24 hours again. By day 3/4 is when it would only climb from 5.7-6 in ~24 hours. And each dose of ph down was in the mL...

This phosphoric acid however(Advance Nutrients), 1.75ml to get to 5.7 on Rez change. And then maybe 2-3 DROPS the next day to get back to 5.7.

Night and Day. And also the cheap stuff will possibly make it smelly and cloudy like I think mine did.

 

[Aqua Man]

Do yourself a favor and stop using potassium silica or silicon dioxide products. They are not readily available for plant uptake. Get yourself a good monosalistc acid. Best one imo is Aptus Fasilitor, second best imo MSA stout, and I am currently running Front row AG Si which is a 10% monosalastic only .5ml per gal and like $70 a quart. Thats what im am running this round

Flowable silica is good but it does not buffer ph which is the main point of using potassium silicate in hydro.

 

[TheBadChoice]

Can’t believe this thread is still going holy cow

 

[Aqua Man]

Whoa shot got crazy in here fast... slow down... the whole point of using potassium silicate is to buffer the PH by creating alkalinity. Yes less available but still will supply some and cannabis is not a huge accumulator of silica although it does benefit.

Read here before freaking out and doing something that is going to give you an unstable PH.

Marijuana pH Levels for Growing Weed: A Basic Explanation

OK I'm going to do my best to explain PH since its something that is for the most part greatly misunderstood and can be confusing to new growers and even experienced growers alike. This will explain why we need both ppm and PH meters to give us informed information about PH This will be a...

www.thcfarmer.com

 

[Aqua Man]

Just look at your local hydro shop for generic 85% phosphoric acid... dirt cheap and extremely effective never use citric acid as it reacts with bicarbonates.

 

[User59204626117]

Can’t believe this thread is still going holy cow

well. I’m still overwhelmed and confused lol.

 

[TheBadChoice]

well. I’m still overwhelmed and confused lol.

Well I can say this a friend of mine recently finished a DWC grow with just botincare pro blend with hydro guard and it’s just two jugs grow and bloom lol he told me it worked great and took a lot of question in nutes and extra shit out of it he liked it a lot and before that he used blue planet. I haven’t gotten to sample the crop yet but he did get some pretty fat buds that stank.