I was laboring under a misconception about bokashi. Fortunately, another more experience bokashi user set me straight (folks who practice bokashi are a helpful lot).
In an earlier post about my “bokashi mistake” I thought the fermented matter would decompose in 2 weeks. Boy, was I wrong. The 2-week time frame is the amount of time to make the dirt above the fermented matter useable.
In other words, it takes two weeks for the fermented matter to release the initial acidity, which would burn plant roots if plants were situated atop of the material. After the two week waiting period, it’s perfectly safe to plant flowers and vegetables atop the buried matter.
Perfectly Useable Container
If you check out the low-quality video (which is difficult to hear) in my earlier post, you’ll hear me complain about the fact that the material was not fully decomposed. Actually, it shouldn’t be fully decomposed. That will take another 4 to 6 weeks or so. However, the soil is perfectly ready for a vegetable container garden.
This is exciting news to me as I can begin planting some of the seeds that I had waiting for the dirt to be ready.
Lesson Learned: If you’re new to bokashi, don’t expect the material to decompose in two weeks. Decomposed or not, after two weeks the dirt is ready for planting.
Thanks Vandra, for clearing up my misconception.
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Felicia,
Have you continued using the container method to bury your bokashi contents? I just got a bokashi starter kit, and as I live in a condo with a large terrace, I’m hoping to bury my bokashi contents in a container. I’d love to hear more about how this is going. Thanks for sharing your experience thus far! It’s helpful! I’ll follow your advice and hope for the best.
Hi Karen,
Yes, I’m still burying my waste in containers. With your large terrace, you have the perfect place to start a container garden. By burying bokashi in my containers, my vegetables have been growing like crazy (on a separate blog I share my trials and tribulations growing vegetables in a container).
I did bury one of my bokashi scraps in the yard, but I much prefer to use the containers. It’s easier and less labor intensive. It does, however, call for quite a bit if dirt, depending on the size of your container and bokashi bin.
Check in from time to time to let me know how you’re doing.