Bokashi without a yard: pots, planters, and soil factories — what to do with your fermented bokashi?

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Bokashi has a big advantage for city dwellers: it fits under the sink and takes almost all your meal leftovers. But it also raises a question people often forget to ask before getting started: once the bucket has fermented, where do you put it if you don't have a yard?

The good news is that there are several solutions, from a large container of soil on the balcony to giving it to a gardener in your neighborhood. This guide explains how to make your own soil in an apartment, what proportions to use, and how to organize the next step if you really have no space at all.

No-yard solutions at a glance

• The “soil factory”: a container dedicated to turning bokashi into soil, on the balcony, in a basement, or in a laundry room.
• The pot or planter: the bokashi goes at the bottom, under the soil, a few weeks before a plant goes in.
• The worm composter: the worms finish the job, as long as you add it in small doses.
• Giving it away or curbside collection: a community garden, a neighbor who gardens, a shared composter that accepts it, or your city's food scrap collection.

The soil factory: step by step

The idea is simple: you mix the fermented bokashi with soil in a dedicated container and let the soil life transform it. A few weeks later, the container is full of dark, rich soil, ready for your pots.

The container

A plastic tub, a crate, a large bucket, or a grow bag will do the job. Indoors, 2.6–5.3 gallons (10–20 liters) is often enough and stays easy to move. Choose a wide, shallow container: it's easier to keep an eye on and to mix than a tall, narrow one. Indoors, it must not leak, so no holes in the bottom. Outdoors, a few drainage holes keep rainwater from building up.

Setting it up

1. Pour a layer of soil into the bottom, filling about one-third of the height.
2. Add the contents of your bokashi bucket, up to about two-thirds of the way, and mix it into the soil.
3. Fill the last third with soil, at least 2–4 in (5–10 cm) deep: no food scraps should be visible anymore.
4. Cover it without making it airtight: a lid simply resting on top, a piece of cardboard, or a cloth. The bokashi fermented without air, but turning it into soil requires oxygen.

Ideally, use garden soil or old, previously used potting mix: they contain the living organisms that will do the work. Fresh potting mix, which has little life in it, doesn't work as well.

How long it takes

Generally allow 2 to 6 weeks, depending on the temperature and the size of the pieces. Above 68 °F (20 °C), everything moves quickly; in a cool basement, you'll need a lot more patience. In households followed during a recent study, the bokashi and soil mix was sampled between 2 and 7 weeks after it was prepared, so these timeframes are realistic.

The soil is ready when it smells earthy rather than sour, and you can barely recognize the food scraps anymore. If a few hard pieces remain, simply toss them into the next mix.

Emy's tip

Always keep a bucket of the soil you've just made to start the next mix. Since it's already full of life, it transforms the new bokashi faster than fresh soil.

Proportions: how much bokashi for how much soil?

Sources don't all agree, because they aren't talking about the same uses:

• in a large container or soil factory, many practitioners go with half bokashi, half soil;
• in a pot that will hold a plant, the usual advice is one-third bokashi to two-thirds soil;
• some gardening guides suggest 1 part bokashi to 3 parts soil, in a container kept moist for three to six weeks;
• the most cautious recommendations go as far as 1 part bokashi to 4 parts soil, followed by three months of curing before using the mix in the garden.

Our advice: in a soil factory that you leave to cure, one part bokashi to one or two parts soil works well; the three-layer setup described above gives roughly one to two. The more soil you add, the faster and more odor-free the transformation. And if the resulting soil seems very rich, mix it with potting mix or regular soil before repotting sensitive plants or starting seeds.

Key takeaways

Never put bokashi as is in direct contact with roots. Whether in a container or a pot, it must first break down in the soil for at least two weeks.

Straight into a pot or planter

You can also prepare a large pot or planter in advance, for upcoming repotting or planting:

1. fill the bottom of the pot with bokashi, to about one-third of its height;
2. add soil on top and mix it into the bokashi;
3. fill the rest of the pot with plain soil, all the way to the top;
4. wait at least 2 weeks before planting, and ideally 4 for delicate plants or if the pot is in a cool spot.

The bokashi stays at the bottom: by the time the roots reach it, it will already have turned into soil. In a pot, the volume of soil is limited and the transformation can be slower than in the ground, so don't cut the waiting time short. For a balcony planter that's already planted, don't bury bokashi between the plants; prepare the next planter instead, or use the soil factory. In the diagram: the bokashi at the bottom of the pot (1), a good layer of soil (2), and the plant on top (3).

What to do with the finished soil?

You can use this soil to repot your houseplants and balcony plants, fill new planters, or top off pots where the soil has become compacted. It's rich: for seedlings and young plants, mix it half and half with potting mix, or follow the tips in our composting guide on homemade potting mix. And there's nothing stopping you from giving it to a neighbor who gardens.

Giving your bokashi away or using collection

If you have neither a balcony nor room for a container, the bokashi can leave home:

• A community garden, a local gardener, a friend or family member: many people appreciate this pre-compost, as long as you explain that it needs to be buried, not spread. Our guide Burying your bokashi in the garden will show them what to do.
• A shared composter: check with the person in charge first, since the rules often exclude meat and fish, even fermented.
• Food scrap collection: in France, since January 1, 2024, the law requires that every household have a way to sort its organic waste at the source, through either separate collection or local composting. If your city collects food scraps, the fermented contents of the bucket can usually go in, well drained. Just check the local guidelines.

To carry your fermented bucket to a friend's garden, a model with a strap, such as the Skaza Organko 2 Bokashi Composter, is very handy. Drain off the liquid right before you head out.

Did you know?

A well-fermented bokashi bucket that has stayed closed keeps for several months, even in the cold. So there's no rush: you can wait for your next visit to a friend, or for spring to start your soil factory.

What about a worm composter?

Bokashi and a worm composter make a great pair in an apartment: the bucket takes the meat, fish, and citrus that worms don't like, and the worms finish the job. But bokashi is acidic, so it should be given to them in small amounts, on dry bedding. The full method is in our guide Bokashi and worm composters. To choose where to put your worms, see also our guide Worm composters for apartments.

In summary

Without a yard, bokashi is still an excellent solution, as long as you plan its second life. The soil factory, a container filled with soil and bokashi, produces rich soil for your pots in 2 to 6 weeks. A large pot can also be prepared in advance, with bokashi at the bottom, at least two weeks before planting. And if you have no space at all, a neighbor who gardens, a community garden, or your city's food scrap collection can take over.

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