Starting w/ SCOBY Slice

Hello,

Three days ago I began my first batch of kombucha. I started with a gallon of sweetened black tea and had a starter SCOBY, which was just a chunk of a thick SCOBY in about a half cup of the liquid. The SCOBY slice sunk to the bottom of my jar and today I see it has extended what look like chunky tendrils that are reaching for the top of the jar. I also have some slight translucent white spots forming on the surface. This must be the early formation of my new SCOBY.

What I want to know is if the SCOBY slice at the bottom of the jar will eat up my sugar before the new SCOBY has a chance to form. Do I have to wait to try my kombucha until after the new SCOBY forms, or will the slice at the bottom turn my tea into kombucha by itself?

I cannot find anything online that touches on this exact subject.

Thank you.

Don't worry about the scoby piece at the bottom. Ive seen scoby's do that where they grow strands between itself and the surface. It sounds like the new scoby is forming nicely. Your tea wont be ready to drink until the scoby on the top completely forms..should form within 3-6 days, then you can sample it probably need to wait at least a full 7 days but that's up to you. depends on temperature too. And don't worry about the bottom piece "eating all the sugar before the new one can form" You can brew with one very thin scoby or you can brew with a huge scoby that is several inches thick without worrying about sugar consumption or anything like that. The mother and baby scobys don't compete or anything they just live based on what's going on in the tea. Hope that helps.. People tend to worry about all kinds things that happen or that are going on when they first start off. Honestly as long as no mold grows and a scoby forms on the surface you are good to go...no worries its easy stuff!

Awesome, thank you for the insight! : )

Good point about the mother and baby SCOBYs. I had not thought of it that way yet.

Yep, it seems to be going good so far. It's generally at least 75 F where I am brewing so maybe I will be all finished by the middle of this week!