In the Lensli Academy we regularly inform you about practical situations that we encounter in the sector, we talk about insights gained in practice, we give you cultivation tips and we share our knowledge about other interesting substrate-related matters.

Silicon is an element that is commonly found in nature in mineral form. You encounter the mineral silicon in large quantities in the earth's crust, in sand, in rocks, but also in organic products such as grains and rice.

Silicon is essential for plants to build cell walls. For this reason, in this section we focus on the importance of silicon in plant cultivation.
Plants can absorb silicon and use it for various functions. The element improves, among other things, the health and resilience of the plant. Thanks to the presence of silicon in the substrate, a crop can be better protected against certain pathogens. Naturally, the physical condition of the substrate (water/air ratio) is a requirement to guarantee the health of a plant, but the availability of absorbable silicon can certainly support the crop's resilience.

Not every source of silicon is easy to absorb for a crop. For example, the presence of sand does not guarantee that there is absorbable silicon for the plant.

Rice husks as a silicon source
Plants absorb a soluble form of silicon dioxide. Some substrate raw materials or additives can introduce this soluble form, such as rice hulls or lava flour.

Compared to lava flour, rice hulls offer a number of important additional advantages in addition to the contribution of silicon:

• Rice hulls naturally contain absorbable trace elements. This means that fewer additional additives are required when using rice hulls, resulting in fewer additional costs.
• Thanks to the use of rice hulls in the substrate, the air content of the substrate is increased. Rice husks are therefore a good and affordable substitute for perlite.
• Rice husks are a renewable product.

Want to know more about rice hulls? Go to Technical data sheet Rice husk.

Silicon in the plant
Once in the plant, silicon strengthens the stems, leaves and flowers by being transported to the cell walls. Silicon also increases resistance to osmotic stress, such as a disruption of the plant's water balance.

Resistance to biotic stress is also increased. Silicon has a beneficial effect on the epidermis of the plant, making it more difficult for pathogens such as fungi, bacteria and viruses to infect the plant.

As a final advantage, the absorption of other elements also improves, because silicon promotes the transport of nutrients in the plant.
The use of rice hulls, lava flour or other additives can therefore lead to a lower failure rate or better resilience for many crops, thanks to the silicon present.

Would you like to know more about this subject or find out what the options are to incorporate more absorbable silicon into the substrate in your cultivation? Please contact your Lensli account manager or our Substrates Technical Product Manager Nick Vollmer by email n.vollmer@lensli.com or telephone +31 (6) 51269415.

We are happy to talk to you.