Silicon Dosing Questions

For me its a must I only use in tiny amounts on its own with a watering every couple of weeks otherwise it can make hard work of lst if you have that in mind, only use it in veg, maybe once in flower, depending on how she looks... gives a good bark effect on the stem and can manage big buds without the need for support...

Silica is a popular supplement that I've personally never felt the need to incorporate. It's main purpose is strengthening weak branches, which isn't really a problem I've ever needed to address. In excess it can make branches too ridged, so it can make LST harder potentially

Silica, but we get ya. Silicone is used in computer chips and circuit boards. At any common sense application, precipitate will not be a problem. Only the concentrated forms of some options are something you have to becareful of. as with anything too much is a bad thing...plant issues will happen before it gets to a concentration that would cause a precipitate. I've googled and read a wide ranging amount of suggestions. 5lbs per 10 cubic feet was one... that was using diatomaceous earth (DE). DE will slowly release silica over time as it breaks down. You can also use vermiculite instead of perlite for drainage amendment and that too will contribute some available silica over time. Tthe concentrated bottles of silia (potassium silicate? whatever it is it's often a very stong acid so that has to be balanced too) just need to be mixed to instructions and should be fine. That's probably highest risk of over-doing it or causing a precipitate. The precipitate should be easy enough to avoid. if planting outside, i'd wager there's plenty of silica in the earth. I meant to add 3-4lbs per 12 cu ft of sbustrate this year but i forgot, lol. I did go back to using vermiculite, though. Ttehre's no way to tell with your eyes what exactly changed when doing this. There's no way to know with such a small sample and the limitations of a variable environment that what you see was caused by "this or that". Only good research and empirical data would shed light on the benefit and give a good suggestion for a goldilocks concentration.