Agmin’s Soluble Silicon Chelate Complex

Over the last two centuries Silicon has been considered as a non-essential element in plant nutrition even though it is absorbed in large quantities by the plant.  During the last three decades the effects of Silicon on plant growth and crop yields have been observed and monitored, and the beneficial effects established.  No other nutrient element has such a multitude of beneficial effects on crop growth and on resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses than Silicon.
  
Beneficial Effects of Silicon on Crop Growth in Relation to Biotic and Abiotic Stress

Biotic Stress
Silicon is effective in controlling various pests, non-insect pests, as well as diseases caused by fungi.
 
Abiotic Stress
Silicon alleviates several physical stresses including low or high temperatures, wind, and reduced light intensities.  Silicon can alleviate water stress by decreasing transpiration caused through heat stress and preventing cell electrolyte leakages.  Silicon also alleviates phosphate deficiency by the desorption of soil phosphates (locked-up Phosphorus).  Silicon deposited in the stems and leaf blades counter-act excessive Nitrogen applications by preventing the usually occurring lodging.

What is Silicon? ​
​A chemical element, one of the 97 natural building blocks from which all minerals are formed.    It is a hard brittle crystalline solid with metallic lustre and is a tetravalent metalloid.

What is Silica? ​ 
It is an oxide of Silicon also known as Silicon Dioxide, and the major constituent of sand, quartz and flint.

What are silicates?
When silicon, apart from oxygen, link with other metallic elements they are called Silicates.

What is Monosilicic Acid?
​It is an oxyacid of Silicon and is the only one of all the Silicic Acids which is plant available.  Monosilicic Acid concentration in the soil is very low due to its instability.  Above 80ppm, in soil solution, the insoluble polymeric Silicic Acid appears.  This is why there is Silicic Acid deficiency in every type of soil!

What is Silicone?
​Silicone is a synthetic polymer of Silicon with carbon and oxygen that could be in solid, liquid or gel form.  It has all kinds of medical uses, such as in antacids, artificial joints, pacemakers and implants of various notoriety.
Silicone Polymers in Soils
When soil’s plant available Monosilicic Acid is released from either weathering silicates or biogenic sources, it is very unstable, immediately starts to polymerise, and becomes plant unavailable.  The shielding of Monosilicic Acid is only possible if it is incorporated into an anionic Chelate Complex and is protected from adverse transformations into plant unavailable form.

Agmin’s product development laboratories formulated a number of Silica-Chelate Complexes which resulted in a product that completely prevents Monosilicic Acid losses in soil solution.

Once a Silicate ion is chelated:
  • The Silicate in solution holds onto its monomeric form, the plant available form.
  • It prevents the dissolved silicic acid in the soil solution forming complexes with organic and inorganic compounds.
  • The chelated form of Silica is protected from polymerisation and stays in monomeric plant available form.
  • The chelated silicate does not adsorb on the surface of hydroxy iron and aluminium and does NOT become plant unavailable.
  • The chelate protected Silicates do not precipitate in the soil solution.​  
Agmin’s Soluble Silicon Chelate Complex products are the most effective if applied at the time of planting, or during the growing season when needed.  Soil and plant analyses are valuable in predicting probable responses to silicate applications.
 
View more information on Agmin's Silicon products here