Importance of Silicon
QUESTION: but what is the 5th element on the ranking list when you rank the elements of a percentage of the dry weight of a typical grass plant? Anwser: Silicon!
Silicon might be one of the most under utilized essential nutrients. Silicon as shown to be a "stress mitigator" when it comes to drought, salt and heat related stress. Silicon has also been proven to provide disease resistance and show anti-fungal activity. If that wasn't enough, Si has also been proven to show companionships between other nutrients to help with uptake and transportation. So if there is so much potential for Si, why is it so under utilized?
Finding The Right Form
Often Silicon is found in the "silicate" formulation which is often high in pH leaving it less utilized in the plant. In Soils, pH is found to be one of the most critical factors deciding silicate solubilization. So while the mechanism of silicate isn't totally understood, we do know that the ways that are currently offered to deliver silicon to the plant have been proven to be inefficient. Most of these formulations are derived as Potassium Silicate or Sodium Silicate which have been the industries go to for fertilizer but also have their own list of reason for being ineffeiecnt or included baggage.
Opaline Silica as SiO2
As you may have guessed, Turf and Soil Solutions as a innovative solution to delivering silicon to the plant. We want to be able to deliver silicon in a proper and safe way in order to achieve all the benefits listed above. Pro N Si 20% is derived from a once living plant organism and delivers silicon in the opaline form (silica) SiO2 which is the exact form naturally found in plants. This means a ultra clean way to deliver silicon to the plant that is compatible with other nutrients.
Battle Buddy: Protein Nitrogen
We have paired our opaline silica with a protein nitrogen (also plant derived) to help with the solubility, uptake and transportation of silica. This offers a massive increase in efficiency making Pro N Si one of the most efficient ways to deliver silicon to the plant.
So what should you expect after PRO N Si Applications
- Stronger cell walls, thicker leaf blades, more root growth (lateral and vertical) and less trans-evaporation
- This will help benefit the regidity of the plant which in turns help with disease, and pest damage
- Improved rigidity also means better wear and traffic tolerance. With a more vertical leaf blade, golf balls roll faster and superintendants can expect better mow cuttings.
- The pairing of Silica and Protein Nitrogen will deliver the elements quicker to the plant and improve base needs
- With PRO N Si, the formulation is completely water soluble that is compatiable with any tank mi
- Stimulating plant growth and stress tolerance including stresses related to heat, salt, drought, diease, traffic, and more!
- Improved uptake in other essential nutrients especially in Potassium and Nitrogen!
BALL SPEED, BALL SPEED, BALL SPEED
"I want tournament style greens!" "I want them Faster!" " What are they rolling today?" "We should roll and make them Faster"
How many times have we heard or been demanded of faster ball speeds. As turf managers, we know its not that simple. Silica can be used to acheive faster ball speeds with any additional cultural practices. With adding silica to the equation, rigidity and tensil strength will increase. This means a more vertical leaf blade that is stronger and more rigid. This will keep the ball rolling on the tips of the leaf allowing for a more true roll no matter the "grain of the blade."
Why Stress?
Soluble Si in the cytosol enhances the production of jasmonic acid,enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, secondary metabolites and inducesexpression of genes in plants under stress conditions. Silicon supplementation is considered one of the promising methods to improve plant resilience undersalt stress.
Utilize Silica To help with stress realted to:
- Heat
- Cold
- Drought
- Fungal
- Pest
- Normal Wear
- "Tournament style" stress
- Salinity
CHECK OUT PRO N SI TODAY!
