Fresh Starts
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I found this little excpert on the interwebs and I thought I would share it here if you were thinking of adding silicon to the mix.;)
Also, I saw that you were having trouble with the EZcloner because of the heat. You can pick up a bottle of "ClearRez" and not worry about what temps the ezcloner get to because it adds chlorine into the water- keeps roots white and free of fungal infections. A cycle timer also helps. Anywho, have fun at the cup!!
"As an agricultural consultant in far northern Queensland, Australia I grew 2 to 3 thousand dollars of culinary ginger in my garden as well as an aloe vera nursery—without nitrogen fertilisers. Both were high silicon crops. At nearby Mt. Garnet we had a diatomaceous earth mine that sold diatomaceous earth (DE) at $300/ton—somewhat pricy, but an excellent silicon fertiliser. When I sprinkled this DE on my ginger it grew beautifully, and was twice as robust wherever I spilled a liberal amount. The same was true for my aloe vera. What was clear was that nitrogen fixation and amino acid uptake by both ginger and aloe was far more abundant with high silicon availability. On a nearby banana farm using the same diatomaceous earth at a rate of 1 ton per hectare (2.5 acres) there was 1.28 more new leaves per month, a sure sign of quality nitrogen availability and robust growth. This meant silicon was a huge influence in nitrogen fixation."
Also, I saw that you were having trouble with the EZcloner because of the heat. You can pick up a bottle of "ClearRez" and not worry about what temps the ezcloner get to because it adds chlorine into the water- keeps roots white and free of fungal infections. A cycle timer also helps. Anywho, have fun at the cup!!
"As an agricultural consultant in far northern Queensland, Australia I grew 2 to 3 thousand dollars of culinary ginger in my garden as well as an aloe vera nursery—without nitrogen fertilisers. Both were high silicon crops. At nearby Mt. Garnet we had a diatomaceous earth mine that sold diatomaceous earth (DE) at $300/ton—somewhat pricy, but an excellent silicon fertiliser. When I sprinkled this DE on my ginger it grew beautifully, and was twice as robust wherever I spilled a liberal amount. The same was true for my aloe vera. What was clear was that nitrogen fixation and amino acid uptake by both ginger and aloe was far more abundant with high silicon availability. On a nearby banana farm using the same diatomaceous earth at a rate of 1 ton per hectare (2.5 acres) there was 1.28 more new leaves per month, a sure sign of quality nitrogen availability and robust growth. This meant silicon was a huge influence in nitrogen fixation."