How do I know bokashi is working?

[jamesbrownghost]

I mixed up my own EM and (1) mixed one part to ten and feed it to my plants and future recycled dirt and (2) mixed the same ratio solution and poured it in a trash bag with about ten pounds of oats and have now started a bokashi in an air tight kitchen container in lieu of obtaining a couple of buckets to start a proper one.
My question is how long before it starts to work and how will I know when it does? Anybody?

 

[mad librettist]

I made you a whole thread!

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=162237

 

[jamesbrownghost]

yeah...I read it but was just wondering how long till I see mold...

 

[mad librettist]

hang on, my crystal ball is dirty. I was using it to view what Denise Richards is doing right now and I had a little spill.

 

[jamesbrownghost]

that's funny

 

[tuinman]

If you're asking about when you should be seeing mold in the oats portion I can at least say that I mixed my 10lbs of bran up with the same ratio of EM and put in a sealed rubbermaid container then didn't check for two weeks.

After two weeks it looked pretty moldy, so I gave it a good stir, let sit for another week, then dried it out. Appears to be working fine in my kitchen bokashi buckets (no difference from the stuff that came with the original bucket I bought).

 

[mad librettist]

it's very dependent on temperature, that's why it's hard to predict.

better to let it go too long than not long enough.

 

[jamesbrownghost]

very helpful....thanks guys

 

[jamesbrownghost]

It's working!