BioPack is a simple, practical way to rebuild tired or degraded soils by reintroducing the biology that creates fertile structure. Each BioPack combines a living host plant inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi, supportive bacteria, selected minerals, and beneficial worms that help spread the fungi and open the soil. Used correctly—kept moist, gently fed, and minimally disturbed—BioPack helps clay soils regain aggregation, improves root space and nutrient access, and supports healthier, more mineral-rich food production.
Colin Austin — 25 April 2013
What is a BioPack?
BioPack is an inoculant used to improve soil quality. It incorporates a combination of a host plant, mycorrhizal fungi, bacteria, worms, and minerals. It is designed to be simple to use: BioPacks are either buried in the soil or placed on top of the ground, then the soil biology does the work of generating fertile soil over time.
The underlying idea is that healthy soil is not “dead dirt” that only needs fertiliser. Healthy soil is a living system, built and maintained by biology. BioPack aims to restart or strengthen that living system, particularly where soil structure has been damaged (for example, hard-setting clays) or where soil life has been depleted.
Why Soil Fungi Matter So Much
The key to regenerating soil is fungi—particularly mycorrhizal fungi. Their hyphae are incredibly fine and operate at a micro level. They exude enzymes that can dissolve rocks and lignin, which helps release nutrients and improves soil structure.
In practical terms, mycorrhizal fungi extend the effective reach of plant roots and help soils form stable aggregates. Aggregation is the “clumping” of fine particles into small, stable units that create good pore space. Good pore space matters because it allows roots to explore the soil, water to infiltrate, air to enter, and soil life to thrive without the soil collapsing into a dense, airless mass.
The Role of Worms and Larger Soil Biology
Because fungi work at the micro level, BioPack also relies on larger soil biology—especially worms—to help the system spread and function. The flyer distinguishes two broad worm types: compost worms that tend to stay in place and eat what is locally available, and travelling worms that move through the soil looking for new food sources (such as the amynthus variety).
Travelling worms are particularly beneficial because they create channels through the soil. These channels provide spaces for roots, improve drainage and aeration, and help break up compacted or heavy soil. Worms also release slime that helps hold soil in place. In addition, many soil organisms emit exudates that bind very fine clay particles into aggregates—again, a central feature of good soils.
Worms (and other macro soil biology) also appear to play an important transport role. Fungi often grow outward slowly from their base. Worm activity can help distribute fungi and their spores throughout the soil, supporting faster inoculation across a wider area than fungi could achieve alone.
Host Plants: A Practical Way to Introduce Mycorrhizal Fungi
The most practical way to introduce mycorrhizal fungi is to inoculate a host plant under controlled conditions, and then transplant that host into the target area. BioPack is built around this principle: establish the fungi where they can reliably colonise a plant, then let the biology expand outward into the surrounding soil and adjacent crops.
Gotu Kola as the Core Host
Gotu Kola is used as a host plant because it is tough, low growing, spreads quickly, and is also a medicinal herb. The mycorrhizal fungi can then spread from the host to nearby plants.
In a vegetable garden, Gotu Kola can be used as a companion plant and as a living mulch. This means you are not only adding biology once; you are creating a growing ground cover that helps protect soil, reduce harsh drying, and maintain a more stable environment for fungal networks and other soil organisms.
A typical small BioPack using Gotu Kola is described as suitable for inoculating around one square metre. The flyer also notes that other host plants are being evaluated for different climates, indicating a broader aim: match the host to local growing conditions while maintaining the same biological function.
What Is Inside the BioPack?
The “heart” of the BioPack is Gotu Kola impregnated with mycorrhizal fungi. Also included is a combination of composting and burrowing worms (amynthus variety). These worms help spread the fungi and physically break up the soil. The soil also contains bacteria which are needed to help break down compost so that worms can feed effectively.
Minerals and trace elements are also included. These are needed for soil biology, and ultimately to support healthy food that contains minerals, trace elements, and phytochemicals.
Senna Alata: A Host for Larger Areas
Senna Alata is described as another good host plant, more suitable for larger areas. It has a strong root system that can push through heavy clay, creating a safe haven for fungi. It is also deep rooted, so it can bring up nutrients from deeper layers. The fungi can then transfer these nutrients to nearby plants.
This highlights an important soil-building principle: deep roots can “mine” nutrients from below, while fungi help distribute and trade those nutrients through the living soil network. In a regeneration context, this can help rebuild both fertility and structure rather than relying on repeated surface inputs alone.
Looking After Your BioPack
Before you plant out your BioPack, there are a few key steps. First, you must ensure it is maintained moist. Many people use BioPacks in a wicking bed, which automatically maintains constant soil moisture, but they can also be used in any soil remediation project where moisture can be managed.
The flyer notes that fungi like calcium, and suggests adding gypsum or dolomite to the soil. It also warns that fungi do not like phosphorus and that phosphorus can even kill them. This is a crucial practical caution, because conventional agriculture often relies heavily on N-P-K fertiliser. That can “blow up” plants quickly, but the goal here is not simply rapid growth.
The goal, from a health perspective, is to grow plants more steadily with an abundant supply of minerals and trace elements. These support the production of phytochemicals that are described as an aid to health. The flyer strongly recommends using only the minimum of classic fertilisers. It also mentions Colin Campbell’s book Garden Talk as a useful guide to recognising soil deficiencies.
Planting the BioPack
Planting is intentionally simple. You make a small hole in the ground the same size as the box, plant it in the normal way, and water in well. But the deeper message is that soil biology is made up of living creatures, and you must treat it accordingly: feed it, water it, and care for it—much as a farmer looks after livestock.
Feeding the Soil Biology
You must keep the soil moist and feed the biology. Compost with a significant amount of green material is recommended as the best way of feeding your BioPack. In a wicking bed, the flyer suggests using a compost tube: form a tube in the ground (for example, using a conventional auger), then fill it when needed with green or partially composted material.
You can also water through the compost tube, so plants are fed by a compost tea. This approach is consistent with the overall philosophy: feed the soil life, and let the soil life feed the plants in a more balanced way than heavy, repeated soluble fertilisers.
Avoiding Damage: Minimal Soil Disturbance
Fungi are easily damaged by working the soil. The recommendation is to never work the entire area—only work a small strip where you are going to plant. If you want to move that strip, let the Gotu Kola grow over the old strip so it becomes inoculated with fungi, then make a new strip.
This is an important practical habit for long-term soil improvement. If you repeatedly break and disturb the soil structure, you are also repeatedly breaking fungal networks that take time to establish. A slower, more careful approach helps the biology accumulate rather than constantly resetting.
Further Information
For more information, contact Colin Austin at colinaustin@bigpond.com, or telephone 07 4157 2278.
