Silicon benefits plants when they are under stress. Silicon improves a plant's ability to survive and even thrive in areas of high salinity. Silicon has been found to improve drought tolerance and delay drying in some crops.

where irrigation is withheld and may increase the plant's ability to resist micronutrient and other metal toxicity. Silicon improves photosynthesis of plants and helps in plant growth of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P₂O₅), potassium (K₂O), zinc (Zn) and molybdenum (Mo).