"Torus" #C9

I don't know much about anything, but I know a little about everything. Hi, she grew! Lots. This week I have mostly been smoking Durban Cookies, Terrance had babies, I did not know 7 spotted ladybug larvae looked like that. All this befell me from my Mind, that is Man-Shepard, Word, (Logos) of all masterhood, by whom being God-inspired I came unto the Plain of Truth. Wherefore with all my soul and strength and Thanksgiving give I unto Father-God. Holy art Thou, O God, the universals' Father. Holy art Thou, O God, whose Will perfects itself by means of its own Powers. Holy art Thou, O God, who willeth to be known and art known by Thine own. Holy art Thou,who didst by Word (Logos) make to consist the things that are. Holy art Thou, of whom All-nature hath been made an image. Holy art Thou, whose Form Nature hath never made. Holy art Thou, more powerful than all power. Holy art Thou, transcending all pre-eminence. Holy Thou art, Thou better than all praise. Accept my reason's offerings pure, from soul and heart for aye stretched up to Thee, O Thou unutterable, unspeakable, Whose Name naught but the Silence can express. Silica Unless it's panic stations, root feeding little and often is the best way to add silica to your plant's 'diet'. And no, you WON'T find silica in your fertiliser unfortunately. This particular nutrient doesn't play nicely with liquid fertilisers, so has to be added separately. When adding silica to your water, always add Silica first, stir, then add fertiliser and water as usual. However, if there's something wrong, such as a plant under attack from pests or suffering stress, you absolutely can spray silica to the leaves for super-fast uptake. Great as a short-term boost while root feeding gets to work, as leaves absorb nutrients faster than roots, but the nutrients stay more local. Roots absorb a wider range of nutrients, for the benefit of the entire plant, but does take longer than feeding the leaves. Silicon helps defend against bugs in 2 ways, the first is proactive defence, by strengthening plant tissues in stems, leaves and roots. That barrier makes it more difficult for insects to chew or penetrate (that's how the sucking insects feed - think of them like mosquitoes). If the plant is eaten, silicon also makes plants harder to digest, as well as making the plant taste worse by reducing palatability. Reducing digestibility has the added benefit of slowing insect growth and reproduction. Studies found larval survival was reduced from the eggs of insects fed silicon-supplemented plants. In one study, rice supplemented with silicon showed a ten times increase in its physical barrier to insect pests. Consider it from a bug's perspective. Why try to chomp into a silicon-strengthened 'rock' of a leaf, when you could munch on something soft and easy? Move on bugs. Nothing to eat here. Silica - Nature's secret weapon our indoor plants are missing out on. No, silica isn't considered an essential nutrient. But once you find out what it does and see the difference it makes you might consider it essential for your indoor plants. This powerful nutrient is nature's bodyguard for our plants. Except being indoors isn't exactly 'natural' for our houseplants. So indoor plants need us to give them the protection that nature would normally provide. Let's take a look a this little powerhouse nutrient, what it does for plants, why there's a shortage (even though it's the 2nd most abundant element in the Earth's crust), and why such a common nutrient is a secret us indoor plant hobbyists are 'behind the times' on finding out about. What does silica do for plants? In short? Strength! It makes plants stronger in two ways. Physically stronger, and it supports stronger defences, increasing plant resistance to pests, diseases, and environmental stress. How does silica make plants stronger? Silica is involved in cell wall strength, as well as what we might think of as 'immune strength'. It builds a protective barrier against biting and sucking insects, and against diseases like fungus that cause everything from root rot to brown leaf tips and brown patches on leaves with tell-tale yellow halos. It also builds broader stems that can better absorb water and nutrients and strengthens weak stems. Broader stems also assist with nutrient transport. Stems can more easily and efficiently get nutrients from roots to leaves. Stronger stems can support bigger, stronger leaves, fruits and flowers (yes, silicon is not just for indoor plants - it's superb for producers of heavy fruit and vegetables too). How does silica fight insects? This might be my favourite benefit. Silicon is a key part of nature's defence system. Think of it like giving your plant its own personal bodyguard. Big, tough and ready to fight. Not just stronger, tougher stems and leaves, but the roots too. Silicon helps strengthen your plant's physical and mechanical barriers against attack from both chewing and sucking pests. Common pests we struggle with for our indoor plants include fungus gnats (larvae in excess will eat roots, stunting plant growth), mealy bugs (they pierce your plant and suck out sap), aphids and spider mites (they both suck too - in both senses of the word!). Interesting side-fact: Diatomaceous Earth (which is often recommended to be sprinkled on soil to aid control of fungus gnats), is a very rich source of insoluble silica. It's up to 85% silica dioxide and used as a natural insecticide. However being insoluble, it's not a form available to plants. Silicon is considered natural pest control, used alone, with, or instead of chemical alternatives. It's common to see the recommendation in plant forums and groups of applying silicon with neem oil to infested plants. How does silicon help plants resist disease? Around 85% of plant diseases are caused by fungi or fungal-like organisms. Symptoms of fungal infections can vary depending on the type of fungus, but can include powdery mildew or mould, leaf wilting (even when watering is fine), spots on leaves, chlorosis (yellowing of leaves), reddish-brown leaf or stem rust, and black or discoloured rotting patches (usually close to the soil). The same proactive and reactive defence mechanisms that silicon assists with in defence against pests, also come into play with pathogenic diseases caused by fungi. Silicon both increases a plants resistance and recovery. When a fungal nasty comes along, it must first drill through the plant's cell wall to get to the nutritious cell centre. Once the centre is reached, the fungus gets the food it needs to fuel it spreading through your plant. By strengthening the cell wall, silicon helps protect from the disease getting in, so it can't spread. Applied to a diseased plant, silicon also helps reduce further spread and gets to work to assist healing and recovery. How does silicon protect against extremes? The short but fancy-sounding answer? Silicon helps plants resist abiotic stress. Abiotic stress is stress from environmental factors like heat shock, limited water, and limited nutrient availability (biotic stress is from living things like bugs). I think of as silicon as protecting plants from both us and nature ;) Silicon helps plants to better absorb, transport, and retain water, helping plants cope with neglect, drying out between watering, temperature extremes, dry air, low humidity, draughts, and inconsistent watering. Growers report plants fed silicon need less frequent watering, staying hydrated longer. More water is put to work and less is lost through transpiration (that's water loss through evaporation from the leaf surface). Reduced water loss also reduces the risk of dehydration and water-deficit stress. An added benefit for our house plants is that helps plants who prefer higher humidity, cope better in less humid, dryer environments - yep, the typical indoor-plant home environment. Especially during winter with heaters blasting or an HRV / DVS system running. It also helps protect from heat stress. Ideal in summer when plants have to cope with alternating between being shut up in an unbearably hot house, then suddenly changing to cool when the air con's turned on. Basically, silicon helps plants cope with extremes. Depending on where you live, most areas become either too hot, or too cold multiple times a year - even inside - compared to the temperature range most indoor plants prefer. When stomata are closed, a plant can't photosynthesize. During extreme conditions, a plant is forced to close it's stomata to limit water loss, leading to the leaf not cooling itself, and causing carbon dioxide levels to accumulate in the leaf (leaves use stomata to 'breathe' and to cool themselves, exchanging water for carbon dioxide).