Bokashi Part 2

We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/796403/

I had a go at making my own bokashi bran so that I could use it in my bokashi bucket, add it to my chicken feed and use it in their bedding. As we live in a highly built-up area I'm very conscious of any "barnyard" smells wafting across the neighbourhood. When I opened the container it had some undesirable green mould growing in it.
I didn't end up using the exact quantities called for in the recipe. My Post #4582676 in the last thread explains what happened.
g_m, I think you're correct - too much water and not enough EM1. I had the mix in a rubbermaid bin and covered it with a trash bag pressed into it before I put the lid on, so I'm pretty sure it was airtight. Do you think there is anyway of rescuing it, other than spreading it out to dry.

On the plus side, I can definitely attest to EM1 reducing the size of the chicken poop. I've been adding it to their water while waiting for the bran to ferment. Result: small, firm, quick to dry, not too smelly poop. Without it in the water: large, goose size, loose, stinky poop.

This message was edited Mar 8, 2008 7:34 PM

If, by "rescue", you mean make the bokashi bran suitable for mixing with the chicken feed, I'm reluctant to say yes. I don't want to be haunted by the vision of chickens with a belly ache or worse. I'm not even sure that spreading it out to dry would make it suitable for the chickens if there is green mould on it.

If rescue means using it for your compost, and you are willing to experiment to learn more about this process, I would recommend splitting the batch, or part of the batch, into two airtight containers. In one, you can add a little sugar and perhaps some more dry bran and reseal it to see if you get white mold in a couple of weeks. In the other batch, spray it well with activated EM, mix it up, and reseal.
One or neither method may work but at least you would have some idea of the effect.

Perhaps EMEric will pop in and comment.

Both good ideas, thanks for your input g_m, she says, donning lab coat and preparing for science 101.

Forgot to mention - the smaller chicken poopsers are most likely due to the probiotic effect of the EM allowing better absorption of the food.

Ok, I got my EM1 and mixed 1 cup of EM1, 1 cup molasses and 20 cups water (5 quarts). I put it in a 5 gallon bucket. I used an airtight lid, but I'm still not sure this is right. I re-read the thread and I think I should have put it a smaller bottle to ferment. Am I right? Also, after this ferments I hope I can dilute this further for composting my sawdust.

This message was edited Mar 9, 2008 8:58 PM

If you are making activated EM, I would use a smaller bottle to minimize the available air space, since you want this to ferment anaerobically.

If your intent is to make Bokashi "bran" with your sawdust, you would need to mix the sawdust into the mix and ferment it all together.

Were you thinking 5 gallon bucket because some of us use that size for the kitchen scraps?

I guess I was thinking that. But I just went to EMAmerica website and found another recipe. Maybe somebody already mentioned this but it said to add 2.5 Tablespoons molasses and 2.5 Tablespoons EM1 for each gallon of water. Fill a container with plant matter and then add the above. So I just did that. Now there is maybe 1/4 inch of air in the bucket. Hope this is right.

Sorry silverfluter. I must have missed something in your post. I didn't see that you had put the sawdusy (or other plant matter) into the bucket.
When I run out of innoculated bran, I do just spray AEM over the kitchen scraps and let them ferment that way. Let's see what happens.

Anyone seen a post from EMEric lately? Has he abandoned us?

Well I added the plant material (dry leaves) after that first post. I figured out that what I'd done at first wasn't going to work. I was confused because I keep getting all these recipes mixed up. EM1 has so many uses, and sometimes what I read is just confusing. I keep reading it, thinking that one of these days it'll all make sense.

I decided to use leaves this time because I'm hoping that they'll ferment faster than the sawdust and I can use the fermented material to compost the sawdust. Hmmm. I hope I'm right because that might mean that I'm beginning to understand this stuff.:)

I hope Eric shows up soon because I have some question about something I read in the booklet that came with my EM1. I talks about putting ceramics into pillows, but doesn't really say why.

What happened to Eric? I read somewhere about how much EM to add to the water bowl for cats, but can't remember where or how much. Anybody know?

No clue where EMEric has disappeared to but I add 1 teaspoon of EM1 to 4 pints of water for my chickens drinking water. I'm interested in hearing how it affects your cats Silverfluter. I haven't tried it on my cat yet.

Eric left a msg on the bottom of the other thread, he's been away on business and will check in later. I am lovin the Bokashi tea!!! We have one bucket almost ready to dump in the compost and another working. I've added some of the diluted tea to my houseplants and starts! What a big difference, they are growing like crazy and look great.

We need to get a new sprayer for the yard, hopefully we can do that is weekend. The flu sort of changed all of our plans last week, both this stuff is just miserable.

Sorry for the confusion, I mean the part that drains from the bucket. I'm still experimenting with the EM. I have both and find I'm still getting confused about what to use where. But we're making progress. We just added a new worm bin as well, so I'm thinking we are going to be well set up this year!!! :) I have good soil, we've worked at it for over 20 years, but this makes good sense to me. I'm always looking for ways to improve the soil and I think this will do the trick.
We spotted a 30 gal sprayer that will fit in our little pull behind garden cart and can hook it up to the lawn mower motor for additional "boost". I'm wanting to use this on my fruit and nut trees as well. I have a pair of mature black walnuts that are close to the road and overhead utility lines and a looking a bit ragged. We're going to give it a try. I fought both the county and the state to save those trees and I'm going to do everything I can to preserve them as long as I can. I have ordered a couple of the new variety of black walnuts, another pecan and an almond tree to add to that section. There's just enough "room" to plant them there. :) I'm going to be interested to see how these newer black walnuts do, they supposedly will bear earlier and are more disease resistant.

Thanks, doccat, for the explanation--I've been considering diluting the "juice" for my houseplants, and your recommendation convinces me to do so. I have also been tipping it down the kitchen drain, to aid my septic tank.

I also am somewhat confused about the different uses of Bokashi juice and EM.

CapeCodGardener, here's a picture of my Ornamental Sweet Potato plant slips. They went nuts.

Wow, doccat--what an endorsement those photos provide!

I was dumbfounded. I'll have to get some pictures of my blooming Christmas cactus as well. Shhhhhh, don't tell them their not suppose to be doing that. LOL I'm going to pull starts off those taters and put them in water per the instructions of the lady who gave me them. I got them at the Mid-Atlantic RU in Feb. I just love the color. I believe I'm going to grow them in a large container with some other types "trailing" plants and hang them on my porch.

Is there anybody out there that didn't get the ph paper when they ordered their EM? I forgot and now I can't check the ph of the EM I extended. Do you really need it, or can you just sort of guess?

You should be able to pick up ph paper at a drugstore or pharmacy. Some of the diabetic testing still requires litmus paper.

Doccat, may I ask what dilution of Bokashi juice to plain water that you use? I've read different proportions, of 2-3 teaspoons per gallon and more.
Thanks!

I was using 1 teaspoon per gallon and think I could but that even more. That "juice" is some righteous stuff! I am so impressed I can hardly wait for the weather to break enough so I can start spraying my nut and fruit trees. Since the Bokashi buckets are so expensive, DH and I figured out we can make our own. I found some spigots that can be installed with a hole saw. And found some plastic liner with holes that can act as the strainer in the bottom of the bucket, we're getting all the white plastic 5 gallon bucket from the local laundry with lids no less and free. The owner is another gardener and hopefully I've turned her on to Dave/s.....:) I gave her a diluted quart of "juice" with directions on how to cut it further to try on her houseplants. I haven't had a chance to get back down there and find out how it worked for her. Hopefully this weekend.

I agree, but I can deal, I've smelt much worse. LOL Wonder how this stuff works to get rid of the smell of skunk? That is a challenge!!

Eric said the ph paper you find at the pharmacy won't work. I think he said it's because the EM is too acidic. Is everybody else using the ph paper from the website, or buying it at the pharmacy? My leaves haven't broken down much at all. Probably partly because I had to put the bucket outside and it's still pretty cool at night at least.

I got mine from the EM1 site and didn't realize that was an issue. Hmmmmm, very strange.

He said the diabetic test strips are not intended to measure really low ph. I wish there was some other source besides the EM website so I don't have to wait for the mail and pay shipping. I was so excited about trying EM that I forgot I needed the strips too.

silverfluter, I understand!! Trust me I understand. I'm hunting all over here for wheat or rice bran, finally found some at one of the local health food stores. I want to make my own Bokashi. I'm sold! This stuff is great. New sprayer coming up this weekend and I have enough "juice" to start spraying fruit and nut trees. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Well I'm going to try diluting some of the EM I extended and see what happens. I don't know if it's ready or not. I think I started it about 2 weeks ago, but it's been outside most of the time. I'm thinking I should add something to the leaves I have soaking in EM, but I'm not sure what to add. The leaves are still very crisp. I can add sawdust to soak up some of the extra liquid, but that won't compost very fast either. Hmmm. Maybe some coffee grounds.

silverflute, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. You're making bokashi with EM1?

Well I don't know if you could say that I'm making bokashi or not. I mixed molasses and 5 quarts water to 1 cup of EM and filled a half gallon plastic milk bottle and put the rest in a 5 gallon bucket crammed full of dead leaves.

I looked at the calendar and I started this only 10 days ago. I think I probably broke every rule in the book. Is this hopeless, or can I make this work?

I was reading this thread some weeks ago, but then lost track of it. Rather than go through all the posting again, please let me go the lazy route. Will someone tell me if I can use the EM1 as a foliar feed? I am a little reluctant to start the fermenting bucket thing because of lack of space. I went to the web site, where they offered a 10% discount. I thought great, that would help pay for the shipping, but after taking all my info and credit card number, the web site didn't work. This was on a Sunday, so no one to call. After a few tries, I gave up. I would like to go back and get a couple liters of the EM1 to start out my lasagne gardens and houseplants if it is as good as I've read here.

I hope Eric shows up soon. I just found out today that one of my cats has kidney failure. She is very dehydrated even though the vet gave her an IV. He told me to force fluids and see how she is tomorrow. I know the EM can't cure her, but I'm hoping it would help her feel better for awhile. She is atleast 11 and I know we'll probably have to put her to sleep soon. She's had kidney problems for many years. Anyway I need to ask Eric what dilution rate to use.

Doccat, like you, I am using diluted Bokashi-Juice as a fertilizer. What I'm wondering is: how often can I use this on my plants? Is it like a compost-tea, which doesn't burn plants, or should I only apply it every month or so. I'm using the dilution you suggested of 1 teaspoon to a gallon.
Thanks in advance!

The website is suggesting once every 2 weeks, which is what I've been trying to do. Started 2 more homemade Bokashi buckets today, so we should have lots more "juice" shortly!!!

I just started another extend batch of EM1 using a trash can to mix it up in as I really want to have it on hand for watering the garden and the fruit trees and have told DH that when he is in the mood to water to use the sprayer and fill it with the mix and use that to spray the yard and plants but to do it in the early morning time so the sun doesn't burn the leaves .

I need o get another bokashi going though as the last one was just added to the compost pile, but since I am no longer working at the restaurant the "scraps" aren't as plentiful LOL...

I'm interested to know what everyone is using in their bokashi buckets to keep the contents airtight as it gets filled with scraps. I opened up my bucket after letting it sit for a couple of weeks and everything had gone mouldy. The nasty green kind. I'm a bokashi failure :-( I've thrown everything out and I'm starting again.

wgnkiwi, you are not a bokashi failure!!! You have successfully demonstrated what happens if you have too much air, or too little innoculant or too much water. The "green batch" can be added to the compost pile.

It sounded like you added quite a bit of water when you made the last batch. You may want to keep the mix a little drier on your next batch.

The 5 gallon contrators bucket that I use came from OSH. It has a very good seal, since contractors need to keep many materials from drying out or hardening at exposure to air. Some rubbermaid bins are more airtight than others. The large ones that we use for storage are not very airtight.

wgnkiwi, you're not a failure! Like garden mermaid says,you can use the contents in your compost heap!
When filling my bucket, I sprinkle in a good handful of Bokashi with each layer of scraps (and stir it up gently) and each time I finish a layer in the bucket, I place a double-sheet of plastic wrap on top and press down firmlyto exclude air--and I make sure that the top of my bucket fits really tightly. It seems to be a question of keeping things as anerobic as possible.