Shogun Silicon

Silicon is often overlooked in many nutrient regimes, but the wide range of benefits that it can facilitate make it a must have in our opinion. Silicon is not exactly a nutrient as your plants do not consume it as a source of nutrition – it does however enter the plant’s structure via your nutrient solution and provides numerous structural benefits to the plant.

STRONG PLANTS
Including Silicon in your nutrient regime means that your plant can incorporate this element into the cell walls of your plant. Multiply this effect into every cell in your plant and it becomes quite easy to see how adding it can increase durability, strength and physical resistance to disease and pests. It won’t “definitely” protect your plants from any potential problems, but it does increase resistance to things like heat stress and pest invasion as well as decreasing the likelihood of rot or mildew issues actually getting into your plant and causing problems.

SILICIC ACID
Silicic acid is a weak acid that forms when Shogun Silicon is dissolved in water. It exists as this in solutions with a pH less than 7. Above 7, it dissociates into the silicate anion that can react with Calcium and Magnesium to cause nutrient solution clouding (see below on how important correct mixing is!). Stable silicic acid in your nutrient solution can have a number of positive effects…

CORRECT MIXING IS ESSENTIAL!
If you want to see all of the benefits that SHOGUN Silicon can offer then it’s essential that you mix your solution correctly (as outlined in the above mixing instructions). If you don’t follow this order – for example if you add your nutrients to the tank first and then add concentrated SHOGUN Silicon without adjusting your pH then you will see a plume of cloudy liquid appear as you add the Silicon. This will rapidly dissipate, but you’ve immediately lost some of the benefits of Silicic Acid (above) and have cause some of the Calcium and Magnesium in your solution to precipitate and “drop out” of solution. This is not a great idea and is very easily avoidable by adding your Silicon FIRST to plain water and then adjusting your pH to below 7 before adding your nutrients. The key point to recognize is that the pH cannot be above 7 when the Silicon and nutrients make contact. Follow this golden rule and your SHOGUN Silicon benefits will remain maximised.