Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
thirds full. Mix the contents thoroughly, top the container off with some of the original soil, and
press the contents down firmly. Cover the container to keep excess moisture out and let it sit out of
direct sunlight for a month. After this curing phase, the soil can be directly planted into. You don't
have to remove the soil or remix it at that point, just plant into it. For small containers or a large
number of pots, it is often easier to combine all the soil in one large container such as a trash can.
You can then do the mixing and curing in bulk and redistribute the finished soil to the individual
containers after it has sat for a month.
People often ask, can I add bokashi pre-compost to a traditional compost pile? The answer is
yes, but you are losing some of the advantages of the fermentation process. When you ferment
scraps, you are preparing them for rapid assimilation into the soil matrix; you are going straight
fromfermentationtosoil,soaddingthemtoacompostpileisanunnecessarystep.Yes,thebacteria
in the pre-compost will help inoculate the pile, but the heat and oxygen will ultimately stop them
from multiplying and thermophilic bacteria will dominate the composting process. The heat will
ultimately cook away some of the nutrients, enzymes, and bacteria in the organic waste, so unless
you don't have space to trench or don't want to make a soil mix, don't add the pre-compost to a
traditional compost pile. Bokashi pre-compost is best used in the soil, so take advantage of the fer-
mentation process the bokashi composting process initiates to rapidly build up your soils without
losing nutrients.
If you compost using worms, you can add bokashi pre-compost to your worm bin. But again,
the question comes down to, why? The best, most appropriate use for the bokashi pre-compost is in
the soil. So put it there. Why double handle it? There are all sorts of ideas and theories as to why
bokashipre-compostshouldgointoawormbin,butIdon'tagreewithanyofthem.Feedtheworms
the straight, unfermented food scraps they like to eat and bokashi compost anything else you don't
put into the worm bin. When you put the bokashi pre-compost directly into the soil, the worms and
soil biota will eat the fermented scraps in situ, giving you castings right where you need and want
them. Why add unnecessary steps by going to the worm bin first with bokashi pre-compost? I don't
know, but people insist on doing it, so here is how I would approach it.
I would not add the raw bokashi pre-compost straight into the worm bin; it should be finished
first. Why? Because the fermented pre-compost is acidic (it will most likely have a pH in the high
3s),andwormsdon'tlikethatmuchacidicmaterial.Youcangreatlyreducethechancesofshocking
the system by finishing the pre-compost and allowing the pH to rise, thereby making the material
more tolerable to the worms. Finishing the pre-compost is easy and will only take a week.
