I have a Scoby "commune" that I have been using now for at least 9 months. It's huge - about 16 inches wide. I don't do anything to it after fermentation. I just put it plus about 2 liters of raw Kombucha back in it's hotel container and keep it cool until I need it again. It's BUTT UGLY because of all the growth and yeast clumps and multiple scobys, but it's healthy and works just fine.