While at first the chemical garden may appear to be primarily a toy, some serious work has been done on the subject. For instance, this chemistry is related to the setting of Portland cement, the formation of hydrothermal vents, and during the corrosion of steel surfaces on which insoluble tubes can be formed.
The nature of the growth of the insoluble silicate tubes formed within chemical gardens is also useful in understanding classes of related behavior seen in fluids separated by membranes. In various ways, the growth of the silicate tubes resembles the growth of spikes or blobs of ice extruded above the freezing surface of still water, the patterns of growth of gum drying as it drips from wounds in trees such as Eucalyptus, and the way molten wax forms twig-like growths, either dripping from a candle, or floating up through cool water.