Bokashi Library

How to turn bokashi into soil?

Written by Plastika Skaza | Apr 01, 2022

In today's post, we will explain how to turn bokashi into soil, how long it takes, and what you need to be extra careful about.

There are three main benefits of bokashi composting:

  • The first one is effective managing of bio-waste, since it loses a quarter of its volume once the fermentation process in the bokashi bin is over.
  • Secondly, indoor composting also produces beneficial bokashi liquid, which is formed as a side product and can be very useful for chemical-free cleaning of kitchen sink drains or (if diluted with water) as a fertilizer for plants, flowers and crops.
  • The third and most useful benefit of bokashi composting is - of course - providing your garden soil with extremely valuable nutrients.

Let's focus on the last bullet.

It all starts in a compost bin

The first step of this manual on how to turn bokashi into soil is very easy. You just need to get rid of all your food leftovers by placing them into a Bokashi Organko composter. All you have to worry about is sprinkling bokashi bran after each layer of bio-waste and regularly draining out bokashi liquid to avoid unpleasant smells.

When the composter gets full, you have to seal it up for two weeks and let the fermentation process run its course. Effective microorganisms found in bokashi bran will carry out specific chemical processes and make sure that everything goes according to plan. In a matter of 14 days, you will get an extremely beneficial bokashi pre-compost.

Mix bokashi pre-compost with your garden soil

After two weeks of fermenting in Bokashi Organko, your pre-compost should be ready to mix with garden soil. When burying fermented mass in your garden, make sure that the soil completely covers it. You want to keep oxygen out of the decomposing process that will follow, and prevent animals from digging it up, so try to bury it between 25 and 30 centimeters deep.

Approximately two months into the process, the bokashi mass will be almost entirely decomposed into the garden soil, which you can then scatter across the other billets or add it to your balcony plants and flowers.

Theoretically, you can use the fermented mass just 14 days after you buried it, but don't expect the leftovers to be completely decomposed in such a short time. Even within the first month, you will probably still recognize some of the leftovers - after that period of time, only smaller bones or eggshells might still be visible. It should also be noted that the process is much faster in the summer, since lower temperatures make decomposing a lot slower.

Become a true gardener

Now that you know how to turn bokashi into soil, you can start composting on a larger scale. If your household produces enough bio-waste (Who doesn't, right?), you should get another composter so you can run more processes simultaneously. We advise you not to use all of the fermented mass you buried in the soil at once. Leave some of it as a base when you add more bokashi pre-compost from the next composting cycle. This way, the dissolving process will run even smoother.

And that's it. Hopefully, this post answered all your questions about how to turn bokashi into soil. For more tips and tricks, we invite you to read our other posts on bokashi composting.