PhMe said:

Well, If he's talking about Dutch Master silica, the recommendation is 2 ml per gal or in his case 12ml for his 25 liters.

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That's what I noticed after I posted and went to look at it. I think you meant to say the rec was 1mL/2L or 0.5mL/L (this is what my web search turned up).

If that's the case we're talking about double the dosage.

Silica is some SERIOUS shit, and it does very uncool things on a molecular scale. It is one of the most abundant elements in soil--but most of this is immobile and insoluble. It is released exceedingly slowly.

Now I don't know if this could cause a hermie--but I think it's probably a good start. Silica participates in very special chemistry.

If you check out the periodic table of elements, you'll notice that Si is in the same group (column) as Carbon. Of all the elements, it acts the most like carbon. Phosphorus is a close second place in this regard--and you'll note likewise that we're often super baffled about phosphorus or how to properly treat it for plant applications. It is typically the limiting agent in flowering applications and it's because of the "weirdness" of this type of chemistry (where more than 3 bonds are possible). Boron also does some weird shit in this same vein by not following the octet rule, but this is less important.

What this means from a practical standpoint is that it really likes to make bonds with shit--and it grabs on to lots of stuff in an attempt to do that. It doesn't always end up making a bond but it can form what are known as complexes and it can be difficult for plants to take complexes up--or to wrest control of a cation that it wants from a silicon complex.

If you've got double the recommended amount in there, I'm thinking it could very well be preventing uptake of other nutrients. I'd actually be surprised to find out that it wouldn't be precipitating some stuff out at that concentration. It's known to do this even at recommended doses.

When it comes to silica I typically only add it once every other watering at most (the plant doesn't need all that much, especially in flower)--but I mean that's just personal preference, and I don't grow in coco as I've discussed.

Again, I'm not sure that even if this DID cause a hermie that it would totally absolve the genetics--but it's something to look into for sure.

"Add Gold Range SILICA to your tank according to the online Nutrient Calculator or at the rate of 0.5 ml per litre or 2 ml per gallon of final tank level or volume."

That's what I read from DM site

PhMe said:

"Add Gold Range SILICA to your tank according to the online Nutrient Calculator or at the rate of 0.5 ml per litre or 2 ml per gallon of final tank level or volume."

That's what I read from DM site

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Ahh I thought you said 2mL per liter--my bad. Lol. Must be bedtime!

Either way we agree, he doubled the recommendation.

I don't think that's wise. This is perhaps the worst element to do this with if you had to choose one.

I ran napalm og 2 phenos and an ewok each on a variation of aliens feeding reg. I found that the ewok is super sensitive to nutes, burned the shit out of it and yes I got male naners the last week of flower. I attribute this too 100% farmer error I'm even running the ewok again on a lower feed and it's thriving nicely! How can you make a statement trying to state facts without at least trying to change your process once to maybe find different results? This thread is extremely irresponsible and should be given no attention. To everybody else having problems nobody is perfect and nobody controls nature not even Alien so shit is going to happen there isn't holy grails in 11 seed packs every single time. My elders taught me that keeper strains were found in hundreds of seeds NOT 11 single seeds! Alien and several others are doing more work than we can imagine being able to release packs with half the success we're all having!

squiggly said:

Ahh I thought you said 2mL per liter--my bad. Lol. Must be bedtime!

Either way we agree, he doubled the recommendation.

I don't think that's wise. This is perhaps the worst element to do this with if you had to choose one.

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No worries, as I am too. I thought I read something wrong and had to double check.

maybe thats it, the silica was a little high, the measuring cup i use isnt the best for smaller measurements but it was always under 25 as i dont like using it that much but do find it helps when we have issues with higher temps.
Well at least i still have clones - i will run them again and go back to pretty much base nutes and bacteria see what happens, will strip the silica from feed altogether or very small dose.

@jlr42024 while i will be the first to admit grower error which in this case it may have been with a slightly higher than recommended silica - was probably 20ml most feeds with the odd spillage to 25ml so maybe 8ml over which thus far in my experience has never caused issues as this is really the first rampant hermie issue i have ever seen in my whole growing experience so this came as quite a surprise to me... if i knew straight off the bat a little too much silica will make a strain (any strain) likely to herm then i probably wouldnt have bothered with this thread.
Cant say i have ever grown a strain that flipped out due to a slight over feed of silica but if thats the case then thats good new for me - means i can still grow this shit and get some results for my $!!

rb420det said:

maybe thats it, the silica was a little high, the measuring cup i use isnt the best for smaller measurements but it was always under 25 as i dont like using it that much but do find it helps when we have issues with higher temps.
Well at least i still have clones - i will run them again and go back to pretty much base nutes and bacteria see what happens, will strip the silica from feed altogether or very small dose.

@jlr42024 while i will be the first to admit grower error which in this case it may have been with a slightly higher than recommended silica - was probably 20ml most feeds with the odd spillage to 25ml so maybe 8ml over which thus far in my experience has never caused issues as this is really the first rampant hermie issue i have ever seen in my whole growing experience so this came as quite a surprise to me... if i knew straight off the bat a little too much silica will make a strain (any strain) likely to herm then i probably wouldnt have bothered with this thread.
Cant say i have ever grown a strain that flipped out due to a slight over feed of silica but if thats the case then thats good new for me - means i can still grow this shit and get some results for my $!!

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I have no clue what your problem might have been I'm saying is irresponsible to make claims based upon a single grow and that anybody expecting the Alien keeper pheno or a grail pheno that it just doesn't happen in 11 seeds. Although with Aliens gear it's more then likely then with others and that's a fact!

I've found my keeper. Didn't get any Hermies doing it. Shit is crazy fire. Just sayin...

i pity the patients that must smoke bud grown at 2.0EC+

KennyPowers said:

i pity the patients that must smoke bud grown at 2.0EC+

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i hear you, my peoples aint complaining and could care less what you pity.

Man.... Squiggly has posted 20 times in this thread. Dude put a valve on it man. With necessary respect. You have single handedly been drowning threads with 800 word posts.

Seriously does anybody even finish his entire posts? No disrespect but you gotta do something to sum it up bro especially being a mod.

Maybe a stupid question...

We all know Alien's style of growing (with a solid organic regimen), is it really possible his genetics prefer organics? I mean, I have seen countless farmers grow his gear in Hydroponic setups but can anyone say for sure his strains, because grown and originated in organic soil, truly prefer that environment?

Getto grew some ewok trees in a UC I dont know if it was organic..They were Bomb!

caregiverken said:

Getto grew some ewok trees in a UC I dont know if it was organic..They were Bomb!

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See, I understand quality can be achieved with Alien's gear in any method of growing, just wondering if growing them organically will bring out everything they have to offer.

I guess this wouldn't be easy to answer without a side-by-side test

GR33NL3AF said:

See, I understand quality can be achieved with Alien's gear in any method of growing, just wondering if growing them organically will bring out everything they have to offer.

I guess this wouldn't be easy to answer without a side-by-side test

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id be interested in seeing that!

I was so excited about ordering a pack of lads and grenades. this took some wind out of my sails but I'll still order them.

GR33NL3AF said:

See, I understand quality can be achieved with Alien's gear in any method of growing, just wondering if growing them organically will bring out everything they have to offer.

I guess this wouldn't be easy to answer without a side-by-side test

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I think organics will bring out the best in everything regardless of the breeder IMO.

for what its worth i have made a few differnt aliendog crosses as well as aliendog f3's and theres a bunch of people growing them and the crosses out. i know they are not the exact same crosses, but i have had reports of herms. for the most part its from people that are usually talking about a hermie here and there with other strains as well. Im not saying that aliendog or alien crosses wont herm, but as long as the heat is in check and they are fed right it can be held to a minimum. If you have other strains doing it as well, just take a look at your room. Go in there with the lights off and look for leaks. Is it always happening in a certain part of your room but not so much in others? make sure your temps are in check and you are not feeding to heavy. You grow sour diesel right and theres no problems but if grown wrong the whole grow is seeded.

also in the 1st post there is no pics and most people are not gonna go off a link or re type in an adress to another site from here. i trust this one dont need to link to another. If you cant even bother to post a proper pick, it suggests you may be cutting corners in your grow as well.

Heres the way I approach anyones gear...If I run into some herms along the way to fire then so be it. Im not popping 10 beans looking for 10 keepers. I think everyone is approaching it wrong for instance we cull the weak dont we????Well cull some herms and move forward :D