# Will Grotek Pro-silicate kill my micro herd?



## next (Mar 13, 2015)

Title pretty much says it call..

Product has potassium chloride in it.. probly not a good idea?


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## The Hemp Goddess (Mar 13, 2015)

This is the bottom line with organics....EVERYTHING you put into the soil needs to be organic.  Is this organic?  No?  Then do not use it.


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## Dman1234 (Mar 13, 2015)

But if your not organic it is a great product.


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## next (Mar 13, 2015)

IS there an organic alternative to this? I like that it very alkaline, would help manage the low ph of earth juice.


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## Rosebud (Mar 13, 2015)

Silica is weird, it is organic of course being sand, but mostly it is used for compacted soil. I used it once in my grow and was not pleased, which is weird because it has no nutrients in it so even though that was the only thing different, I can't say it was the silica.  If i was planting in the ground i would use it for aeration etc. My planting mix just doesn't seem to need it.
 I see they added some potash, my computer wouldn't allow me to look at the ingredients. THG is right, if your going organic then you have to read beyond what is on the label and dig till you find the ingredients.


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## Droopy Dog (Mar 20, 2015)

You need to understand that there are more than a few things used in organics that are not themselves organic, but are organic "compatible". This is one of them. Lime is another and perlite a third.If something does not contain carbon, it is technically not organic, but its use doesn't destroy the grow's organic status.

I have never used the Grotek, but have experience with ProTekt from Dyna Gro, an excellent product. In fact, just about all of the 'organic pH-up are some form of potassium silicate. Read some labels and see for yourself. I don't use it as a pH up, but for the other benefits that silica brings to the table. Another source of K doesn't hurt eitther.

Just don't go crazy using it. 1/4tsp/gallon of water once per week, or every other week is plenty. If used as a pH up, that amount alone should be sufficient.

HTH

Wet


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## Dman1234 (Mar 20, 2015)

It really is a handy and nice product, I normally need to PH down but when I need to up this is what i use, ALWAYS ADD IT TO YOUR WATER AND WAIT A FEW MINUTES! THEN ADD YOUR NUTES? I add it to water, bubble foe 15 mins then add nutes.


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## next (Mar 20, 2015)

"In fact, just about all of the 'organic pH-up are some form of potassium silicate."

It's not the potassium silicate that worries me, its the Potassium Chloride that im unsure about.

http://grotek.net/en/products/guide/msds/msds_prosilicat.pdf


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## pcduck (Mar 20, 2015)

Does not take much potassium chloride to start killing the herd.

One of the most detrimental ferts around. I would not use it.


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## Droopy Dog (Mar 20, 2015)

Do you already have this?

Whatever, check out the Dyna Gro website and note the difference in products.

Duck is absolutely correct.

Wet


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## next (Mar 20, 2015)

Yea regretfully I do already have this. When I was looking for some silicate I didn't "look" at each product specifically, but from what I read the difference was the %'s of silicate in the bottle. This one was the cheapest / easiest for me to get, but kinda dropped the ball on this one I did.

I mixed it with some EJ just to see, and yea, not kool


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## pcduck (Mar 20, 2015)

I use greensand for my organic silica.


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## gottaloveplasma (Jun 24, 2015)

New product coming out I. Few months called the kracken.  It's a crab and shrimp meal and other crustaceans.  It's a chitin source and I'm not sure about all the other stuff but people are loving product.  I'm about to get a gallon of it myself.  It's been enzimaticaly broken down.  Is that organic?


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## Droopy Dog (Jun 25, 2015)

gottaloveplasma said:


> New product coming out I. Few months called the kracken.  It's a crab and shrimp meal and other crustaceans.  It's a chitin source and I'm not sure about all the other stuff but people are loving product.  I'm about to get a gallon of it myself.  It's been enzimaticaly broken down.  Is that organic?



IDK, but generally avoid anything *broken down*. Usually what's used for the breaking down part isn't all that good for the soil.

Crustacean meal is good stuff and the microbes in your mix that break it down are what you want, those particular microbes.

Get the meal and use it. Leave the liquid on the shelf.

Wet


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