SCOBY ISSUES

[navajo001]

Hey all!

I got a scoby a week ago and I put it into 1.5 GAL of Lipton tea with 1.5 cups white sugar using Britta filtered well water and covered with a clean white T-shirt scrap but I think I am growing mold instead of kombucha.

Anyone want to check out the following pics and let me know what you think?

SCOBY

STUFF:

Since I've never made kombucha before, I want to make sure this isn't normal before I toss it. Thanks for your time.

Tom

 

[big brown horse]

Yup that is mold.

I would throw the whole thing out. I'll send you another.

 

[navajo001]

Yup that is mold.

I would throw the whole thing out. I'll send you another.

DANGIT!

Any ideas what I did wrong? Should the tea be cold? It was a bit warm as I had just made it. It was sitting on the kitchen counter out of direct sunlight. Our water is a bit weird, it corrodes everything. the britta filter was a bit old (month or so) and I DID just notice this weekend that there was a small pocket of algae growing in the bottom corner of the filter. So many things it could have been I guess.

I appreciate your offer and will gladly accept if it's not too much of a problem.

Thanks for the input. I'll toss it now and soak the container in a weak bleach overnight to be sure it's all dead.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[big brown horse]

Yup that is mold.

I would throw the whole thing out. I'll send you another.

DANGIT!

Any ideas what I did wrong? Should the tea be cold? It was a bit warm as I had just made it. It was sitting on the kitchen counter out of direct sunlight. Our water is a bit weird, it corrodes everything. the britta filter was a bit old (month or so) and I DID just notice this weekend that there was a small pocket of algae growing in the bottom corner of the filter. So many things it could have been I guess.

I appreciate your offer and will gladly accept if it's not too much of a problem.

Thanks for the input. I'll toss it now and soak the container in a weak bleach overnight to be sure it's all dead.

Thanks,

Tom

Algae? Hot tea? Yeah, those could have been the culprit! Or perhaps it got contaminated some other way, who knows!

Science is fun isn't it?

 

[navajo001]

Algae? Hot tea? Yeah, those could have been the culprit! Or perhaps it got contaminated some other way, who knows!

Science is fun isn't it?

WHAT? Don't tell me you don't enjoy a nice cup of hot algae tea!

Yeah, that does sound bad, huh?

 

[miss_thenorth]

When I first got my scoby, I was told to put about a tablespoon of ACV on too of the scoby, to prevent mold, as I didn't have much original kombucha. The guy told me this wouel prevent mold from growing.

 

[big brown horse]

mine is moldy too. I have another one on order from a good friend. You might want to try to get another one from someone else if you don't want to wait.

So sorry!! I guess I may have ignored it too much over the past 6 months.

 

[navajo001]

When I first got my scoby, I was told to put about a tablespoon of ACV on too of the scoby, to prevent mold, as I didn't have much original kombucha. The guy told me this wouel prevent mold from growing.

Now THAT makes sense. Thanks for the tip. Will try it next time.

 

[navajo001]

mine is moldy too. I have another one on order from a good friend. You might want to try to get another one from someone else if you don't want to wait.

So sorry!! I guess I may have ignored it too much over the past 6 months.

AWWW MAN! Sorry to hear that! I'll let you know what I come up with.

So, maybe it wasn't my hot algae tea?

Take care and we'll get this all sored out some time.

 

[freemotion]

Use black tea and let it cool to room temp before introducing the scoby. It is a live colony and heat will damage it......also, yes, you need to acidify the tea so mold will be less likely to grow.

Once you get it going, take a healthy spare scoby and fold it up and put it into a jar with some filtered water, put the date on it, and stick it in your fridge. Then you will have a spare if needed. Switch it out with a fresh one now and then to always have that security blanket.

I kill my scobys and my kefir grains regularly. It is good to have the spares in the fridge/freezer (dried kefir grains in the freezer.)

I'd offer some, but I have not been good about getting things out this rough year. Too much going on, too many distractions. Sorry....