Dissolution of Silicon from Soilless Substrates and Additives

Abstract

Silicon (Si) is a beneficial element that is usually ample in mineral soil solution, but it is minimally bioavailable from soilless substrates. Several Si additives are commercially available, but the rate of dissolution of Si is not well-characterized. The ideal additive would steadily release bioavailable Si over the crop lifecycle. We report the long-term (120 days) dissolution of Si from soilless substrates and substrate additives. Studies involving gently agitated containers with deionized water indicated that perlite, sphagnum peat, vermiculite, and coconut coir released less than 0.03 mmol Si per liter of substrate per day. Rice hulls and wollastonite (CaSiO3) had 7- to 130-times faster rates of dissolution in this system; therefore, they were further studied in peat-based media. Dissolution of Si from the addition of 1 g wollastonite per liter of peat peaked at day 10 at 2.1 mmol Si per liter of media per leaching event (15% by volume); then, it gradually decreased over 120 days. The peak dissolution of Si amended with 12% rice hulls was similar, but it gradually increased over time. The concentrations of nine heavy metals in plant tissue were compared with untreated control plants to determine wollastonite and steel slag. The concentration of some elements statistically increased, but all concentrations were well below the legal concentration limits of these elements for human consumption in the United States. These results indicate that both wollastonite and rice hulls steadily release Si for up to 4 months; therefore, they are good sources of Si for container-grown crops in soilless media.