Bokashi help

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

I got myself two bokashi bins, was very excited and have been filling them up and putting the lid of for 2 weeks and emptying them of liquids etc. like you're supposed to.

I've emptied one into my compost bin but it all looks pretty similar to when it went in, except slimier. Is this normal? Will it compost OK?

[Jandra]

Yes to both. If it smells pleasantly sour (sorry, hard to describe) and hasn't gone uck it should be fine.

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

Great, thanks :)

[Green Aura]

I presume you're using the bran every time - mine has never been slimy.

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

Yeah, every time enough goes in that covers the last lot of bran I sprinkle in some more - does that make sense?

I noticed when I emptied it doesn't have a grid thingy in the bottom which I thought it was supposed to. So i assume the bottom inch or so sits in juice until I drain it?

This wouldn't make it all slimy though i wouldn't have though.

I wouldn't have said it smells sour but it's not unpleasant. It's quite distinctive though!

[Green Aura]

It should smell mildly citrusy and "fizzy" - can't think of another way to describe it

[GregTraver]

I did not find out about bokashi until late summer. I was reading a blog post where someone wrote an article about water kiefer and what a great home made pro-biotic it was. As I went about searching more about cultivating my own lactibacillus culture I stumbled upon some writings of Dr. Tuero Higa and I was off to the races! I bought some pre-inoculated bran and was so happy with the results that I ended up buying a small bottle of EM-1 and made a big batch with 50lbs of wheat bran. It has really helped me to build up my raised beds this Fall and Winter. It is nice to be able to 'compost' a lot of things that I would not typically put in the compost pile. The smell is definitely unique, like some sort of sweet pickle, kind of hard to describe it but at least it isn't offensive.

[BokashiHQ]

Hi all,

It's great to hear so many people are getting started with Bokashi. Over at Bokashi Composting Headquarters I'm putting together some short profiles of people who are using Bokashi. If you'd like to contribute (and it would be great if you could, to help spread the news about Bokashi) then please leave a message for me here, or via the contact page at Bokashi Composting HQ. I would only be looking for a photo of you and/or your Bokashi system or results, along with a short quote and/or description of your Bokashi System.

Thanks for your help.

Graham

[the.fee.fairy]

Please post an intro and join in. There are a few members who use the Bokashi system and I'm sure they would be more than happy to hear your input.

[dracven]

I've had two bokashi bins for ages now and gave up using them as I wasn't at all sure if it was going right. I never managed to find enough information about them to get an idea if I was even using them correctly.

[Green Aura]

There's no real need to worry about it dracven.

If you're using it correctly (keeping the contents anaerobic by making sure what you put in is chopped up fairly small and with regular sprinklings of bran) there should be no unpleasant smells, it won't attract flies, and you can keep it in your kitchen until it's full. Let it mature for a couple of weeks or so outside then put it in trenches in the garden or chuck it on the compost.

If it somehow goes wrong, usually because it's not been pressed down and there are air pockets, it will get smelly - so just empty the contents straight into the compost, wash it out and start again.