Not getting Bokashi Tea

Nancy Troutman asked 4 years ago

I am getting only slight amounts of Bokashi Tea. Most of what I compost is carrot pulp from juicing. It smells like beer and otherwise seems to working, but I wonder if I need to add water to get the tea.

4 Answers
Nicki Casley Staff answered 4 years ago

The amount of bokashi tea will vary depending on the contents of your bin. Fruit peelings (with lots of liquid in them) will produce more bokashi tea than drier materials. Not getting tea, does not mean that your bokashi bucket has failed. You say that your bin smells like beer, so it sounds like everything is working fine.

It is possible that the holes in your spigot or drain plate are clogged up? Maybe the holes in the drain plate are blocked and the tea cannot drain through to the reservoir. Tilt your bin from side to side. Do you hear any liquid slopping about? If so, its likely that the holes are blocked up. Try pressing the top of the food waste hard with the masher to squeeze the liquid out of the bottom.

Alternatively, try pressing down the sealed lid with the spigot open. This can sometimes force any tea through the spigot.

The best thing to do is usually to be patient. If the bin appears to be working correctly and not failed, then some tea should come eventually. We would not recommend adding water. Too much liquid can cause the bin to fail.

Mark Temple answered 2 years ago

First time I’m doing this. It’s been two weeks now and I’m not getting any “tea”. Using kitchen waste, vegetable peeelings and a lot of citrus peels. Using 20g (about a quarter of the measuring jug) sprinkled over each layer.

Nicki Casley Staff replied 2 years ago

Dont be concerned! Sometimes the tea takes longer to come than others. Tea, or lack of it, is not an indicator of success or failure. The tea will always come, but sometimes takes longer than others. Warmer climates will produce tea quicker than colder ones.

Erin answered 1 year ago

I am having the same issue. I have not emptied it since I got it over 2 months ago. In the beginning the material in it was breaking down but now it looks almost the same in the last month and a half. Which is why I have not emptied it. It\\\’s been on average 88 degrees F here the last month. I tried to pour some tea out to see what\\\’s happening but none came out. I mainly have weeds I have pulled grass clippings watermelon and tomato vines in it. I am stumped.

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