So, you've probably never heard of silicate/ silicon use in plants. It's included in no fertiliser I know of, and "only" semi-essential.

I grow pretty much all of my plants hydroponically, and the fertiliser I use has all nutrients (micro and macro) included. All of them grow healthy and fast, without any signs of deficiencies, probably even twice as fast as in soil.

But I often had the feeling that "something" is missing.
They get hugely stressed when drying out (including nutrient burn), get light or heat stress, and I had to fight pests all the damn time I couldn't get rid of, even with systemic pesticides.
This may sound more hard on paper than it is in reality, but it still was a bit annoying. They grow well, but are physically weak.

This also isn't some obscure hydro issue, soil plants have it as well. Most soils are lacking silicon as well.

Silicon (in form of silicates) is known to fix that. It reinforces cell walls, both in the leaves/ stem and the root system. It makes them tougher and therefore more resistant to wind, heat, pests, drought, nutrient burn, light, pathogens, and so on. It also improves nutrient absorption, and can be just as powerful against powdery mildew or other fungal infections as fungicides according to a study I read.

If it is THAT great, why isn't it used everywhere?!

Simple. Because it's chemically unstable and hard to include in your standard fertiliser. And even if it already is in soil, or applied via plant extracts like nettle tea, it's not that bioavailable.

The benefits have been known to commercial growers for ages.

The most widely used form is potassium silicate. Which is shit imo. It's highly alkaline, so even a bit throws off the pH and hinders nutrient absorption, so you have to adjust the pH all the time, adding junk into your nutrient solution. It also degrades very quickly, so you have to apply it multiple times a week, preferably via foliar application.
That's why it doesn't make sense to use it for hobbyists.

So, what's the solution? Another form!
Tetraethyl silicate (TEOS).

I've been using Grow Genius Mono-silicic for a few weeks now, and the results are phenomenal. But I have to say, this product is overpriced for what it's made out of. You can get TEOS way cheaper, it's wide spread in chemical industry.

Compared to potassium silicate, it

• doesn't alter the pH
• doesn't polymerise as fast, making it way more stable in solution, and
• is more concentrated

I currently use the recommended dose in my nutrient solution, and apply it via foliar spray weekly for now.

I noticed its effects most strongly on my cannabis plants.
The leaves got very rough, almost like velcro at this point.

When I bend a stem now, it really cracks, which it didn't before.

And it grows more compact, tolerating almost double the light intensity than my last grows, resulting in WAY faster growth.

My living sphagnum moss also got more robust. It can tolerate more fertiliser and doesn't instantly die when dry. Before silicate, it felt spongy, and now more like wet steel wool.

And most of my houseplants now look like fake plastic plants. Especially my calatheas just shrivelled up and got crispy before when I forgot to water them. The leaves are thicker and glossy.

It also helped to get rid of the powdery mildew that plagued my mums' zucchini plant.

All in all, I'm really pleasantly surprised that it works THAT well. 10/10, would recommend :)