Nothing happening
Pam Kelt asked 6 months ago
Hi,
I’ve been reading your troubleshooting guide which was very informative. I have a specific problem and wondered if you could shed any light …
Basically, the contents of my first bokashi bin are bone dry. No ‘tea’ or any liquid at all. I’ve tried to drain some – zip. The bin doesn’t slosh so I don’t think there’s any liquid in there at all. It doesn’t smell too bad, perhaps a little ‘cabbagey’.
I’ve been dutifully putting in the scraps (coffee grounds, fruit peelings, veg chopped small) for some weeks now, and covering each layer in bran, but I don’t think anything has happened. I admit, I keep the bin outside the back door so perhaps too cold? I live in Warwickshire and it’s not been the coldest winter, although it has been wet! Barely any frosts and no snow. Where do you think I’ve gone wrong?
Nick Kiss answered 7 months ago
Bokashi tea is not an indicator of success or failure in the bokashi bin. Sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes there’s lots, sometimes there’s little.
The tea production varies depending on what’s in the bin, and the temperatures around the bin. If the foods are not rotting in the bin (evident by dark color molds like blue, green, brown or black), then things are just fine. Rotting is the only indicator that things are not right.
The bokashi bin needs to be stored and used at temperatures above 10C/50F. Below those temperatures, all microbial activity slows and/or stops, just like it does in a fridge.
With bokashi composting, we want to encourage the microbes to thrive and be active, and for that the temps should be closer to room temperatures. It sounds like your bin is sitting in too cold an environment.
