Hy-Gen BUDLINK – Liquid Silica Plant Strengthener

Silica is the cheapest structural upgrade a plant can have

BUDLINK is Hy-Gen's liquid silica supplement, on the market since 1997 and still the reference product in its category. Silicon is not classed as an essential element, which is why most base feeds leave it out — but plants take it up readily and deposit it directly into their cell walls, which is what produces thicker stems, firmer leaves and a physical barrier that chewing insects and fungal spores have to get through first. It works in any medium and any system, and because it is strongly alkaline it doubles as a pH-up agent.

Key Benefits

• Builds it into the plant, not around it — soluble silica is deposited in the cell walls themselves, so the effect is structural rather than a coating
• Thicker stems and firmer leaves — more weight supported without staking, and less lodging under a heavy canopy
• A physical barrier to pests and disease — hardened cell walls are measurably harder for biting insects and fungal hyphae to penetrate
• Cuts water loss through the leaf surface, which matters most in hot, dry or high-light conditions
• Doubles as pH up — highly alkaline, so it lifts a low reservoir while it feeds
• Works in any medium — coco, clay, perlite, vermiculite, peat and NFT alike

Weak Stems That Cannot Hold the Plant Up

A plant grown fast on a rich feed puts on more top than its stems were built for, and the result is excessive stretch, drooping laterals and stems that crease under their own weight. Feeding harder makes it worse. Silica is the missing input: the plant uses it to stiffen the structure it already has, so growth that would otherwise flop stays upright. The same hardened cell walls that hold the plant up are what make it harder for insects to bite and for fungal spores to establish, which is why silica is usually the first additive a grower adds after the base feed.

How to Use

• Recirculating hydroponics: 2.5–5ml per litre of nutrient solution
• Run-to-waste and hand watering: 3ml per litre
• Foliar: apply to the leaf for fast uptake and a surface barrier against airborne spores and chewing insects
• Mix it FIRST: stir it thoroughly into a few litres of water before it goes into the reservoir — added neat to a full tank it will not disperse evenly
• Then correct the reservoir: it raises both EC and pH, so set those back to target afterwards, not before
• Timing: usable from cutting right through to the end of the cycle