Bokashi Ball Experiment

Bokashi Balls are made from Clay or Dirt, Bokashi,  microbe, Molasses, and Ceramic Powder.

They are formed by combining the Bokashi and clay in a 4 to 1 ration. The Ceramic Powder is added–I used a tablespoon worth–and everything is mixed. Then the molasses is mixed with the microbes in a 10% ratio–7 Tablespoons of Molasses to One Quart of a microbial solution. This is used to wet the other ingredients into a moist, and form-able dough. Extra solution can be added if needed.

A few notes about the “strange” ingredients mentioned above. The solution is a microbial inoculant consisting of 3 classes of  microbes in a synergistic solution. This solution can contain between 9 and 60 different typed of yeasts, fungi and bacterial–all beneficial, all found in healthy soil, or in Humans and Animal digestive systems. Think yogurt, sourdough bread, pickles, Kim Chi when you microbes–not the 9% of bacteria which give the other 91% a bad rap.

The Molasses acts as a food for the microbes which have already been fed, and fermented once with molasses. The clay is a binder and contains minerals and nutrients which the bacteria need to thrive. The Bokashi is wheat bran which has been fermented  and is alive with the microbes–it in itself is a powerful soil additive/fertilizer and has a great many other uses.

The ceramic powder is crushed ceramics which come from clay with the imprint of microbes. It was found long ago that certain ancient deposits of clay contained good microbes which survived the firing process while making ceramic pots. These pots kept food better, longer, fresher. It took modern science to discover the answer and make a refined product. In addition to having  microbes within the ceramic powder it also reflects infrared energies which in turn activate the microbes and help break down certain toxins. When sprayed over plants and soil this ceramic powder attracts not only bioactive wavelength of infrared light, but also reflects sunlight scattering it and making it more available to plant life for photosynthesis.

Once the balls are formed by gently compacting the moist ingredients they need to be put in a warm place out of direct sunlight. They need to sit her for 7 to 10 days before they are ready. I used mine at 15 days, although they were ready sooner.

You know they are ready when they are covered with a white hairy fungus–sometimes called Ray Fungi. This is actually a soil bacteria from the family Acetomycetes and is perfectly normal.

The finished Bokashi Balls are applied one for ever 9 square feet of surface area. We added 9 to our pond for a start. We will monitor the water and perhaps add a few more in a week.

The pond is currently clouded with an algae bloom of some sort. There are other methods which could take care of it and are probably not harmful to the plant and animal life within. However there should be no problem with the Bokashi Balls and we made enough to treat the pond three times over for only a few dollars.

We will also be testing the Bokashi Balls in our septic system as well as a very inexpensive method to reduce the sludge in the bottom of the tank, and thereby the number of times it needs to be pumped. We will also be looking for it to control the odor in the drain field.

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