Silica for pest control?

[SouthCoast]

I seem to have 2 kinds of aphids in my vege patch. They took hold in my chard and have spread to my beans. But I've been using Silica to keep them off my Tomato plants. As of right now its working! Well it has been working for some time...


"In recent years, the addition of silicon to the soil or to the nutrient solution supplied to greenhouse plants has been shown to reduce disease. Field applications of various grades of silicon increased the amount of silicon taken up by plants and reduced the occurance of the disease cucumber root rot caused by the fungi sphaerotheca fuligena and the oomycete pythium ultimum respectively."

"plant pathology" fifth edition George N. Agrios.