Found out my bokashi bin is basically pickling my scraps, not composting them

I've been using a bokashi bin on my balcony for about 6 months now, and I always thought it was a composting method. But last week I read a blog post from the city of Portland's waste management site that explained it's actually a fermentation process, kind of like making kimchi. The microbes break things down in a low oxygen environment using lactobacillus, not the same as a regular compost pile. That surprised me because now I realize I can't just dump the fermented scraps straight into my potted plants without burying them deep, or they'll go sour. The article said the pH drops really low, around 4 or 5, which can shock plant roots if you're not careful. So now I mix the bokashi output with soil in a separate bucket for two weeks before using it, and my basil has stopped getting those droopy yellow leaves. Has anyone else gotten confused by this and had to adjust their routine too?

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skyler_white1mo ago

Yeah but once you figure it out it works way better than regular composting, right? I had the same issue where I was just dumping the fermented scraps on my plants and wondering why everything looked sad. The sour soil thing is real. What I do now is I mix the bokashi output with some old potting soil in a trash bag and let it sit for three weeks. That extra week helps the pH balance out so it doesn't burn the roots. My tomatoes have been thriving since I started doing that.