I have not seen a study on it, yet everything that I have seen makes me think that as the rice hulls decompose the silica releases, and that the plants take in the silica, since rice hulls are said to be mostly silica that would make sense. I have not been using rice hulls long enough to have my own opinion on it, there are people who make dirt out of it, and use that for gardening, and they have great results like with manure, so I don’t see any problem with experimenting. I myself do not have the resources to do any real experimenting with it.
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I used DE chunks mainly to get more water retention, we have very dry summers.
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Yes.
There are forms of silica that plants cannot uptake, and there are also forms that they will not uptake.
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The answer is unequivocally yes, at least based on my reading years ago. Rice paddies become depleted of silicon if waste materials are not returned. So the rice plants are utilizing the silicon that other rice plants contain.
Also, rice hulls are widely used in Asia as a soil additive.
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Here’s one thread. It turns out that Richard was involved there too.
And another:
https://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-home/189173-silicon-protecting-figs-from-insect-damage
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FWIW this was one of my key insights:
<< What I think I know is that plants can’t absorb Si from crystalline SiO2 (e.g., sand), plants can only absorb Si as monosilicic acid, and this compound may be derived over time from plant materials (e.g., leaves). [And maybe over a very long time by action of weathering and soil chemistry on other Si compounds.] I remember reading that the relatively abundant Si in beech leaves (as an example) is mostly utilized over ~20 years. That’s slow but adequate.
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I wonder if burning the rice hulls and applying the ash it to the soil or compost could cut the time it takes for rice hull to breakdown.
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Honestly, I don’t remember. A quick internet search could provide the answer. I think the burned rice may have been a source of biochar.
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I have started using a foliar spray made with horsetail (Equisetum spp.) tea in my orchard. Horsetail aka scouring rushes is a wetland plant with a high silicon content. For more info you can look up biodynamic Preparation 508. It seems to work very well as an anti fungal spray, both preventative and curative. I had a bad powdery mildew problem on several of my heirloom apples, and a few horsetails sprays had cleared it up. Not sure if the silica is the active ingredient, but my trees have never looked healthier. Will be using it from now on. And the horsetail grows wild on my farm, doesn’t have to be purchased.
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Thats good to know. I have read plants like horsetail accumulate silica. I haven’t use them on fruit trees, only on annual vegetables and through root drench. I am impressed so far with the results, the plants have stronger stems, leaves are thicker with almost leathery to touch. I have zero aphids on peppers and no flea Beatles on egg plants.
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