Plant Runner Soil & Microbe Booster 3L Pouch

Soil and Microbe Booster Bag 3L with Indoor Leaves

Soil & Microbe Booster 3L Pouch

$46.00

Description
Details

Outdoors, soil is alive. Fungi, bacteria, worms and insects turn dead material into something roots can use, and they've been doing it without any help for a very long time. A pot has none of that. Fresh potting mix is mostly bark and coir, and nothing moves in on its own.

What it is: black soldier fly frass — the manure and shed skins from farmed insects — blended with Australian biochar.
What it does: brings living microbes, organic matter and a slow, mild feed into a pot that started out with none.
What it isn't: a fertiliser. It's a soil amendment. Keep feeding as normal.
Best used: stirred through fresh mix at repotting, or worked into the top few centimetres of a pot that's been in the same mix a while. Also for garden beds and compost.
How to use: a little goes a long way — rates below.

Frass carries a living microbial community into the mix, along with the organic matter those microbes feed on. As they break it down they release nutrients the roots can take up — slowly, over weeks, not all at once. The biochar keeps it there: a porous charcoal that holds water and nutrients in the root zone instead of letting them wash through, and gives the microbes somewhere to live. Nitrogen 2.1%, phosphorus 0.8%, potassium 1.1%, plus iron, copper, zinc and manganese in trace amounts. Deliberately mild. It's not here to replace your plant food; it's here to make the mix better at holding and delivering what you give it.

It also carries chitin, from the insect exoskeletons — the reason frass gets talked about beyond its nutrients. We've written that up in what is frass?

One thing to know: it's organic matter, and organic matter in a pot that's kept wet is what fungus gnats are looking for. Let the mix dry back properly between waterings and they don't get a foothold. If you've got them already, here's what to do.

This is the Mix step of the Plant Runner Method: get the roots' environment right before you reach for feed. A by-product, not a product — frass is what's left after insects are farmed on food waste; nothing is grown, mined or manufactured to make it. Australian frass, Australian biochar, blended in Melbourne. 500ml jar or 3L pouch, year round.

Pairs with Aroid Mix and Indoor Potting Mix: stir it through at repotting and the mix starts out with the life it would otherwise take months to acquire.

How much to use

Use	How	Rate
Indoor pots — repotting	Stir through fresh mix	5% by volume (1 in 20) — about a heaped tablespoon per litre of mix. Up to 10% for tired mix or large planters.
Indoor pots — between repots	Scrape back the top 2cm, work in, water in	1 tablespoon per 15cm of pot diameter, once or twice a year
Garden beds and new plantings	Work into the top 10cm, or mix through the backfill	1–1.5L per m², or 5% of backfill volume. Up to 10% in poor sandy soil.
Trees	Rake into the surface under the canopy	1–5L per m² — the higher end for newly planted trees
Compost	Mix through the heap	5% by volume
Seedlings and cuttings	Mix through the raising mix	5%, no more

Use year round. Water in after applying. Keep the lid on between uses — it's a living product and does best kept dry and out of the sun.

Ingredients

Black soldier fly frass (insect castings and shed exoskeleton) and Australian biochar.

Analysis

Nitrogen (N) 2.1% · Phosphorus (P) 0.8% · Potassium (K) 1.1%. Iron, copper, zinc and manganese present in trace amounts [replace with figures if the spec sheet carries them]. Deliberately mild — this is a soil amendment, not a fertiliser, and it's designed to sit alongside a liquid feed rather than replace one.

Microbial content

Typically 240 million colony-forming units per gram at packing (supplier analysis). A living product: the count drifts with age and storage, which is why the lid stays on and the jar stays out of the sun.

Chitin and induced resistance

Frass contains chitin from the insect exoskeleton. In soil, chitin feeds chitin-degrading microbes, and a body of research links that activity to induced systemic resistance (ISR) — a plant's own defence response, primed rather than supplied. Most of that research uses chitosan (processed chitin) applied directly; how much carries over to raw frass in a pot is still open. We include it because it's the most interesting thing about frass, not because we can promise what it does. The science is on the blog: what is frass?

What the biochar is doing

A porous charcoal made by heating plant material without oxygen. It holds water and nutrients in the root zone rather than letting them wash through, and its structure gives the microbes in the frass somewhere to establish. On its own it adds almost nothing nutritionally — its job is to make the frass go further and last longer.

Format

3L pouch

Origin

Frass from an Australian black soldier fly farm, where the larvae are raised on food waste — nothing is grown, mined or manufactured to make it. Biochar made in Australia. Blended and packed in Melbourne.

Storage and shelf life

Keep sealed, dry and out of direct sun.

Shelf life — 12months after purchase date

Safe use

Not for consumption. Wash hands after handling. Keep out of reach of children and pets.

Soil & Microbe Booster 3L Pouch

$46.00

FAQ

What is Biochar?

Biochar is a horticultural char-like substance, created by heating biomass in low oxygen conditions. It is used to improve soil health, increase water retention and sequester carbon.

What is Chitin?

Chitin makes up one of the components of the exoskeletons of arthropods. As the black soldier flies that produce our frass grow, they shed their exoskeletons and it becomes a part of the mix. Research has shown that chitin enhances plant health and disease resistance. It can work like a natural defence agent - inhibiting fungal and bacterial pathogens, as well as improving soil quality and encouraging plant growth.

What is Frass?

Frass is the term used to describe the excrement of insects. The frass found in our Soil & Microbe Booster comes from the black soldier fly. It is a natural fertiliser and high in beneficial microbes as well as being rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

It looks like my Soil & Microbe Booster has a mould on it - has it gone off?

No, not at all. Put simply, this is a living product and the ‘mould’ is a saprophytic fungi growing on the decaying organic matter. It speeds up the breakdown of organic matter and releases nutrients into the soil. It will not harm your plant, and can be stirred through the potting mix or even compost. Always wear gloves and use a mask when handling the product.

Can I use the soil and microbe booster while treating my plants with a systemic pesticide?

If your plants are being treated with a systemic pesticide, you should wait at least one month after the final treatment before adding the Soil & Microbe Booster to your potting mix.

Should I mix the Soil and Microbe mix with the Plant Runner Potting Mixes?

The Soil & Microbe Booster makes an excellent addition to the Plant Runner range of potting mixes. It can be blended in at the time of repotting, or simply added to the top of existing potted plants.

What's the difference between Frass and Worm Castings?

Frass generally has a much higher diversity of beneficial bacteria and fungi compared to worm castings, leading to a broader range of benefits for the soil and the plant. Frass also contains chitin, which is a natural defence agent for plants.

I added Soil & Microbe Booster to my pots and now I am seeing a white mould on the potting mix

The good news is this isusually a normal side-effect of using our Soil & Microbe Booster. It’s a living microbial product (beneficial bacteria + fungi) designed to repopulate tired potting mix and support healthier nutrient cycling in the root zone. When those microbes get into a warm, moist mix, you can sometimes see a fluffy white saprophytic fungus pop up on the surface — it’s feeding on organic matter in the mix, not the plant.

The easiest way to fix this:

Gently stir or scrape the top 1–2cm of potting mix to break it up and cover it.
If you’ve got fresh potting mix, add a thin clean layer on top.
Let the pot dry a bit more between waterings and, if possible, give it a touch more airflow/light for the next week.

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