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rom_calgary_ab

Are micro-organisms in vermicompost/leachate same as Bokashi EM?

rom.calgary.ab
14 years ago

Been reading about Bokashi to see if there is another option for diverting my other garbage out of the landfill. My worm factory is new and I can't put all my fruit and veg scraps in it yet. I also have other items that are less than ideal for an indoor worm bin but I'd still like to divert from landfill.

I just don't like the idea of constantly buying the Bokashi Bran. Yeah, I am somewhat a cheapskate, but I also can't buy into having a regular operating cost attached to my composting of garbage.

Would the micro-organisms from the leachate from my worm factory work in the same way as Bokashi Bran? If so I was thinking that a layer of newspaper soaked in leachate would work in place of the Bokashi Bran.

The comunity I live in is very proud of the water conservation theme they are promoting (we all have rain barrels) but at the same time we are not allowed to have compost bins in our yard. Kind of wierd to be gung ho for one environmental cause but against another if you ask me.

My family has a cabin that we use about every other weekend where I have 4 acres to bury "Bokashied" compost so if the leachate from my worm factory works in the same way it should only cost me a few bucks for some lidded 5 gallon pails from Home Depot.

Anyone hear of anyone using leachate,worm tea or vermicompost for this purpose?

Comments (3)

  • cathd66
    14 years ago

    Don't think they're the same- bokashi is an anaerobic mix, whereas worm trays absolutely need oxygen. Try doing a search on DIY bokashi, or variants of that. I'm sure I read somewhere how a guy made his own Bokashi culture with newspapers.

  • rom.calgary.ab
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I've read a couple articles on using newspaper for homemade Bokashi. Their methods entail using bought EM or making EM using the liquid from washing rice and some milk/yogurt and fermenting. Still seems that the methods start with aerobic bacteria being cultured into the newspaper.

    A lot of the posts I've read here warn about getting good air flow into your worm bin to keep it from going anaerobic. I'm thinking that you can create anaerobic conditions pretty easily. My thoughts are that the pouring the leachate into a sealed container of layered sheets of newspaper and letting it sit a couple weeks will generate the anaerobic bacteria I need for a Bokashi Bucket. Not sure though if the newspaper sheets should be dried out first or if I can just use them straight from this container into a Bokashi Bucket.

    My worm factory doesn't generate enough leachate to be very useful. From what I've been reading it's better to not let your bin get too soppy wet so I've been working at keeping enough cardboard pieces in there to soak up moisture. It sounds like a fun experiment anyway. I'm off to find an appropriate container to give it a go. Just want to see if anyone has tried this before. If this works well it's at least a good use for the small amount of leachate that my bin does produce and I can get rid of the kitchen garbage that I can't put in my worm bin.

  • mr_ed
    14 years ago

    The easy answer is NO. The long answer is maybe... some.

    EM is a specific blend of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and yeasts. You may get some of the same bacteria living in your worm bin and hence washed out in your leachate but you have no clue.

    If you have other bacteria in your leachate then when you add molasses to activate the unwanted bacteria may take over giving you a very different product then what EM is.


    Also don't forget that one quart of EM will go a long way. I have been making one 4-5 pound batch of bokashi grain each month for composting for almost a year and my quart bottle of EM culture is still more then half full.

    Hope this helps,
    Mr Ed

    Here is a link that might be useful: Here is a link I was sent when I purchased my EM culture.

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