What exactly is silicic acid and how does it achieve the results it’s gained attention for? Silicic acid is a compound of silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen. It is seen as the parent substance of the silicates, or minerals, salts, and esters. The three most commonly used silicates in the gardening industry are:

• Potassium Silicate - Commonly used on crops like wheat, barley, sugarcane, and grapes. It is primarily used to prevent fungal growth.
• Silicon Dioxide - Referred to as Silica, it’s known for allowing for thicker stems, strong resistance to fungal and bacterial diseases, and enhancing the overall growth and yield of any crops.
• Mono Silicic Acid - The crème de la crème of silicates, this is the only form of silicate that is bioavailable, providing all the benefits provided by silicates at a far quicker and more efficient rate.

Silicon, from which silicic acid is derived, is the second most plentiful element on the planet. Plants need to maintain growth, achieve full strength, and sustain continuous resistance to stress.

The acid in silicic acid has the formula Si(OH) (Silanol, oxygen, and hydrogen) and its molecules condense together to form water and polymeric chains, rings, sheets, or three-dimensional networks.

Way to Grow Silicic Acid

All plants need silicon to survive but they must first convert it to silicic acid for plants to absorb it successfully. However, while this process occurs naturally through microbial activity, it is a very long and drawn-out process.

Si(OH) is present in soils but the amount varies dramatically depending on many environmental factors. This is part of what impacts the timeline of the conversion from silica to silicic acid.

Powering up plants naturally

The presence of Si(OH) in plants has been found to lessen numerous abiotic and biotic stresses and fungal pathogens. To clarify, abiotic factors are things like sunlight, temperatures, wind, water, and other non-living environmental factors which can impact the health of a plant.

Biotic factors are the living parts of an environment—such as plants, animals, and microorganisms.

The presence of SI(OH) is significant in helping many plants become more resistant to abiotic factors such as drought or high temperature and assisting them in defending themselves against biotic factors such as disease.

Power Si creates a shortcut for your plants and cuts their labor so that growers can administer the powerful, bioavailable derivative directly, saving the plants from the drawn-out process of converting silicon found in substrate into silicic acid.

This is why Power Si has almost immediately discernible results when applied to crops. Applied in the correct dose, gardeners will see a difference within as few as 24 hours.

Benefits of using Silicic Acid

Most growers are looking for visible results when they choose a nutrient for their crops. Power Si and its active ingredients will strengthen your plants from the inside out. You will see almost immediate, visible improvements including:

• Thicker stalks
• Thicker stems
• More lateral branching
• Tight internodal spacing
• Uniform flowers
• High yields
• More vigorous and stress-resistant plants

It is these visible results that make Power Si one of the most exciting products on the market today and of course, one of the reasons we were keen to have a Q&A with Rex!

Power Si Silicic Acid Q & A

We wanted to use the opportunity to talk to Rex as a way of really getting into the nitty-gritty of Power Si and learning as much as possible about the product. So here for your pleasure are some of the most pertinent snippets from our interview.

WTG: Can you tell us a little about silicic acid?

Rex: Silicic acid is a much more bioavailable form of silica. There are several different varieties of silicic, potassium silicate, silicon dioxide, and mono silicic acid are pretty much the three common ones that are used in our industry. And silicic acid is just a much more bioavailable form of it. It's immediately available to your plant compared to a potassium silicate where your micro life has to change it into a form that your plants will recognize and absorb.

WTG: And so how does it specifically benefit the garden or the plants? What am I looking for in the plant’s response?

Rex: The biggest thing is you're going to notice the results quickly when using Power Si products, not just because of silicic acid, but because of how our products are chelated so they're immediately available. You’ll see thicker branching, thicker stalks, and stems, and more lateral growth. All that stuff is going to be quickly seen when using Power Si products. For Power Si it’s pretty much health, vigor and yield are the three big things you're gonna notice when using our silicic acid products.

WTG: The speed to result is really important to a lot of people who are growing and especially less experienced people are generally looking for those results quickly.

Rex: That's one of the cool things about Power Si. When you start using it, you're going to see a difference in your plants in 24 hours.

WTG: That's very important and instant gratification is what a lot of people are after.

Rex: One hundred percent. And I think, you know, what separates us from a lot of companies is I've been a grower my entire career. I've always kind of been on both sides of the industry. So, we formulate a little bit differently than most companies. We focus on results in the garden. That’s it. If I don't see visible, quantifiable results, we won't release the product. That's why right now we only have three products. We're constantly saying we're always developing, but I won't release something unless it truly blows my mind.

WTG: So, getting into the nuts and bolts of using the product, how would someone apply Power Si mono silicic acid?

Rex: We have 3 products. Two that are kind of similar, but in different forms; we have Power Si, Original, and Power Si Granular. Power Si Granular is a silicic acid in a granular top-dress form that you top-dress on top of your soil, your coco. We came out with that product more for large outdoor greenhouse projects, or for people who are into using top-dress style products. It's the only product of its kind, no one else has a granular with acid. It's also the strongest silicic acid on the market and it's extremely cost-effective. You can run indoor plants on it for about 40 cents a month per plant. So those two products are pretty similar, Power Si Original is the liquid, and Power Si Granular is the top dress slow release. And then we also have our bloom additive, which is our Power Si Bloom. You use Power Si from the time you cut clones until day 14 of the flowering stage. Power Si Bloom, you start day one of flower, and you use that from the time you start flowering until you flush your plant.

WTG: For people that are growing more traditional vegetables or other plants, what are some of the results I can expect for an “award-winning tomato" plant?

Rex: We're doing a university study right now in California, on tomatoes with our granular products, to show flower-size increases, terpene increases, and what happens in the soil when using that product. From the preliminary results that we've seen, better nutrient absorption, higher-yielding tomatoes, and better-tasting tomatoes.

WTG: Is there any reason why I wouldn't want to use this product or an application that just doesn't make sense to be using this?

Rex: No, not really. You can use it in any system; we're compatible with any line of nutrients. If you're running a recirculating, deep water culture system, you can run my product, but you need to run them at half strength. And there are some subtle nuances. If you're going to run them in the current culture system, you just want to use them at half-strength, and you don't want to add it in on your top-offs only on your reservoir changes. Other than that, it's pretty, pretty straightforward on usage.

WTG: I always emphasize to people, you know, make sure you're reading the label. You understand application rates, how to use it, and any special situations where you might want to run a lower dose.

Rex: Yeah, it's happened with my product because we have such a high concentration rate. You only want to use Power SI Original at half an mL per gallon. A lot of people want to think they need to use more. You don’t need to add more of my product, they’re highly concentrated.

WTG: So, how can people learn more about your company and maybe even reach out to you?

Rex: I run our Instagram, I'm the owner of the company and I'm extremely active on there. I answer every single DM that I get. I'm happy to chat with anybody. I love talking to my customers. Whether it's about my product or growing in general.

And if you’re in Colorado check out Way to Grow. They are our premier retailer of Power SI products in Colorado.

The More You Know, the Better You Grow

We are super-impressed by what Rex and the Power Si team have achieved; at its heart, this is a line that has been developed for growers by growers. Stringently tested products rely on the power of nature and not on harmful chemicals so that ultimately, Power Si has no negative effects on the water table or the environment.

That sounds good to us! If you want to see visible growth and visible strength in your crops, then Power Si is the product you need. With noticeable improvements in only 24 hours, it’s changing the face of gardening.