Comments on: Bokashi Vermicomposting

By: Mae

Mae — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 21:31:50 +0000

Late to the party here…I had to start a new worm bucket since I moved. I have 2 -5 gallon buckets going. I put in about 1/3 of my bokashi 5 gallon bucket in each as the first layer, newer scraps, worms, newspaper. Did I put in too much Bokashi??? The bokashi had been fermenting in the bucket for a good 2.5 months (all liquid drained out) so I’m not sure if that helps or makes it worse?
Do I need to add some garden line? If so, how much? I just really don’t want those guys to die in their new home…
Any help appreciated!

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 18:11:32 +0000

Christine…bokashi is used by many to help heat up their “Hot” compost pile as an activator. Adding a small amount should be ok as long as it doesn’t affect the bin in that way. I’ve made bokashi before. It included red wheat bran, rice water (cloudy liquid from rinsing rice), and milk basically. I’ve also added small amounts to worm bins with no problem (bokashi and bokashi compost). Adding the grains can help fatten the worms up.

Adam

Hamilton Organics, LLC

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 15:11:50 +0000

Hi. I am just starting a vermi composting system, and was told at a local store that I could just add Bokashi from the bag directly to the worm bin as though I was adding soil or sand. I have not read here or elsewhere that this is OK for the worms.

Please advise.

By: John Suede

John Suede — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 23:04:15 +0000

Hello all,
I would like to address #3 and #4. The posts about fish water in the worm bin. I would like to say that I have quite a bit of experience with keeping aquariums. nH3 is only present in tanks that have not been cycled. I mean to say in the water column. Once ‘cycled’ the bacteria in the tank quickly turn the ammonia into nitrites, and then into nitrates. Nitrates are naturally found everywhere, soil included. They are released from decaying matter so they will be found all the time in your worm bin already, regardless of adding tank water or not.
One thing that should be noted is that there are salts in water condition, so if a person is maintaining there Nitrate levels with a water conditioner, increasing the salinity of the tank water. This is the only thing that I would warn a person about in this case. However, it sounds to me that Steve is doing regular water changes and shouldnt have to worry about anything like that at all.
Kind regards
John

By: cadav3r

cadav3r — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 02:08:21 +0000

dirt and worms on top of cloth to keep it out
of the irrigation*

By: cadav3r

cadav3r — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 01:59:15 +0000

great post, I got a lot of useful info here; from the op and comments alike.
I have a question for anyone who may have some insight… I’m looking into
building a small aquaponics system plus a potato bed and worms on top to
keep the dirt out of my irrigation… it would be very convenient to feed both
the planter/worm bin and some omnivorous fish like tilapia with my bokashi
scraps… I looked it up and giving em1 directly to fish is beneficial.. but does
anyone think the fermentation process will harm the fish? bokashi bran
is good for Em.. scraps can feed Em… seems like it may work.

By: Kerri

Kerri — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:24:04 +0000

Hi Bentley and fellow worm lovers,

I was referring to fermented food wastes.

I used bags for fermenting food scraps. (same as the bucket method but with lots of microbe inoculated absorbent materials as liquid remains in the bag instead of being tapped off as in a Bokashi bucket)

Kerri

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 04:20:07 +0000

I have added bokashi compost to all of my systems. They really enjoy it in small quantities. If you add too much, it will probably heat up the bin. I add crushed egg shells/oyster shell flour with each feeding to stabilize the PH.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 01:59:07 +0000

Hi Kerri!
Thanks for stopping by with your update.
Sorry if I missed some key info in your description, but are you referring to the bokashi bran mix itself (being added to the worm bin), or the fermented food wastes from an active bokashi bucket?

By: Kerri

Kerri — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 02:14:12 +0000

Hi everyone,
I thought I should check in and let everyone know how my trials went, etc. The result of my trial was that there is no need to fuss at all, just feed Bokashi straight from the bucket to the wormfarm.

My totally unscientific approach is that if worms are big and healthy (not fat lay abouts) and breeding lots, they are probably just fine. I used to put a bit of dolomite in the trays anyway, so purists and pH checkers will obviously get more complicated than I.

I use bag bokashi (I line a lidded bucket with a compostible bag, fill as you would a bucket, close the bag up tightly and store the filled bags in a closed drum until ready to use).
I hope it’s alright to leave the link to Jenny’s Bokashi Blog here, Bentley? Delete it if I have imposed, people just need to Google “bio bags dead easy and a great way to do bokashi” to find it. http://bokashiworld.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/bio-bags-dead-easy-and-a-great-way-to-do-bokashi/

Anyway, I have a can-of-worms wormfarm and I have enough room in a layer for a couple of centimetres of bedding at the bottom of the tray followed by a whole bag of Bokashi, topped with a good layer of soil (the layer doesn’t need to be more than about 2 centimetres but it can’t be disturbed for quite a while. I just close the lid and leave. Worms are fed and happy for a month or more. After a few weeks, I might poke around because I’m a busy-body and can’t help but check on everything, but there will be a definite odour if it isn’t time to start fiddling. “seal” the soil back over and, vala! the smell disappears.

I did this for a while, but noticed that the wormfarm was getting full of all sorts of critters and I decided to give it a miss. After some months, I suddenly realised that what I had was a healthy, happy, environment for my worms. I started harvesting soldier fly larvae to put in my dog poo disposal unit (bottomless pipe in ornamental garden). I have come full circle in my thinking and am back to Bokashi and worms go great together.

However, if one was farming worms for sale, I would say it would be easier not to bother as you will want a clearer wormfarm – just worms and castings.

I have also built a wicking garden (self watering) using Permaculture layers (no-dig or lasagne garden) and included a bokashi layer. I broke open some bags and left others in their compostible bags to act sort of slow release microbe populations. The garden has two “bottomless” worm feeding stations and I feed these alternately to keep the worms migrating through the soil. It is just a huge happy wormfarm now (I only added a handful of worms from the wormfarm originally).
Happy Wormfarming and all types of adventures in great soil and food production, everyone.
Kerri