WickiMix Complete Living Soil Wicking Bed Kit

Grow 32 varieties of fresh edible plants in living soil — with a wicking system designed to manage moisture, nutrients and oxygen together.

Developed by Colin Austin, inventor of the wicking bed, WickiMix is a compact Flood & Flush growing system that combines water-efficient growing with living soil biology, natural mineral resources and a carefully curated diversity of edible plants.

The complete kit includes the purpose-designed WickiMix bed, living inoculant, four seed mixes containing 32 edible plant varieties, and practical instructions to help you establish and maintain the system.

What You Get

WickiMix Bed Specifications

Why Is WickiMix Different?

Most people know a wicking bed as a planter with water stored below the growing area. Moisture moves upwards through the growing medium by capillary action, helping plants stay watered for longer.

WickiMix uses the same fundamental wicking principle, but Colin’s system is managed differently.

Rather than simply keeping the bed continuously wet, WickiMix uses a deliberate Flood & Flush cycle to manage moisture and aeration together.

The Flood & Flush Advantage

The growing system is periodically given a thorough watering rather than being continually topped up.

Water moves through the growing and biological layers, carrying moisture and nutrients through the system. Excess water drains into the lower collection zone.

As the water drains and the plants use the remaining moisture, fresh air is drawn back into the soil. Colin describes this as allowing the soil to “breathe”.

Moisture remaining within the system continues to support the plants between Flood & Flush cycles.

Three Functional Zones

Features & Benefits

• Living soil system — designed to encourage beneficial microbes, fungi and natural nutrient cycling.
• Flood & Flush watering — helps manage both soil moisture and aeration.
• Wicking action — moisture retained within the system continues to support plants between major watering cycles.
• 32 carefully selected plant varieties — greater plant, root and food diversity from the beginning.
• Four complementary seed mixes — leafy greens, herbs, mesclun and plant-protein crops provide a broad range of fresh edible plants.
• Living inoculant included — introduces beneficial soil biology and natural mineral resources.
• Recycles organic material — suitable kitchen and plant material becomes part of the biological growing system.
• Compact & manageable — suitable for patios, courtyards and smaller gardens.
• Lower-maintenance growing — designed to reduce the need for constant surface watering.
• Continual harvesting — harvest leaves and young growing tips and reseed spaces as required.

Why 32 Different Plant Varieties?

Plant diversity is an important part of the WickiMix approach.

Instead of supplying just one or two crops, the kit includes four carefully curated seed mixes containing 32 edible plant varieties.

The four seed mixes have been carefully selected to provide a broad range of plant types, flavours, growth habits and root structures:

• Asian Leafy Greens — fast-growing leafy greens and brassicas.
• Garden Mesclun — diverse young leaves with varied colours, textures and flavours.
• Plant Protein Greens — peas, legumes and nutritious young shoots.
• Herbs & Aromatics — fragrant herbs and culinary greens.

WickiMix Living Inoculant

WickiMix is not simply fertiliser or potting mix.

It is a living soil inoculant designed to help establish the biological ecosystem within the bed.

The inoculant combines living soil biology with natural mineral resources. These materials form part of a system in which fungi, microorganisms and other soil organisms participate in decomposition and nutrient cycling.

Because WickiMix contains living organisms, it should be treated as a living product and added to the system promptly after delivery.

From Living Soil to Fresh Food

Rather than concentrating only on feeding the plant, WickiMix is designed to build the living soil that feeds the plant.

Organic material provides food for the soil ecosystem. WickiMix Living Inoculant introduces biological life and mineral resources. Plants interact with microorganisms around their roots, while Flood & Flush helps manage the moisture and oxygen required by the system.

What Does the Gut Have to Do With a Wicking Bed?

Colin describes the ultimate purpose of WickiMix as “breeding beneficial gut microbes.”

His premise is that the relationship between our food and our microbiome begins in the soil.

For most of human history, food grew within biologically active ecosystems containing bacteria, fungi, minerals, organic matter and countless other soil organisms.

WickiMix brings together two forms of diversity: living-soil microbial diversity and carefully selected plant diversity.

The 32-variety seed collection encourages you to grow and regularly harvest many different edible plants rather than relying on only a handful of crops.

Within Colin’s soil–plant–gut hypothesis, this combination of microbial diversity, plant diversity and exceptionally fresh food is an important part of supporting a more diverse food ecosystem from the soil upwards.

Developed by the Inventor of the Wicking Bed

Australian engineer and innovator Colin Austin developed the wicking bed while working on practical ways to grow food with limited and unreliable water supplies.

His original systems were about more than conserving water. Organic plant material, nutrient-rich soil and efficient water management were part of his approach from the beginning.

Colin continued experimenting with water movement, soil fertility, minerals, fungi and microbes for more than 30 years.

WickiMix brings that work together in a compact system designed for home growing.

Important: WickiMix is a food-growing and living-soil system. References to beneficial gut microbes and the soil–plant–gut connection describe Colin Austin’s hypothesis and the philosophy behind WickiMix. The product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any medical condition.