Mother and baby question

[usdsk8er540]

So I searched through the forums and couldn't find this topic or answer. Here's my scenario: I made my starter from store bought kombucha in a smaller jar and then transferred the mother to a 2 gallon plastic jar with a spigot to ease removal of the kombucha. It's BPA free (one of those Aladdin mason jar looking tea/lemonade dispenser things, so food/beverage safe). I have made my first run of kombucha and run it off into bottles/drank some and just made some more tea to top off. The mother has grown in size after transfer to the larger vessel to completely cover the surface of the liquid and produced a baby. I currently have no need to pull the baby or mother, since the baby is smaller and I would prefer to leave it to grow to the full width of the container if possible and I don't have any takers for a baby yet. My question is: is it okay to leave the mother and baby in with the new batch and just continue continuous brewing until I have takers for babies? I know I could pull the baby and jar it with some kombucha, but I don't think SWMBO would take kindly to jellyfish jars in the fridge or other places in the house. So basically, is it cool to leave them together and will the baby grow to full width? Will it possibly make the kombucha ferment faster (I'm thinking more culture together kind of like a large yeast pitch in beer)? Any info would be great. Thanks all!

 

[chyna]

You can leave several layers of scoby in your continuous brew but don't let it get too thick as your booch needs oxygen

 

[usdsk8er540]

Cool. Thanks! I bet after next month's homebrew club meeting I will have at least one person wanting a scoby. How long does everyone let their kombucha ferment for? I let my last run go 3ish weeks and tasted at 1 and 2 weeks.

 

[chyna]

The size and thickness of your scoby have no affect on the rate. The rate at which your booch develops is more dependent on room temperature

 

[usdsk8er540]

OK. Thanks for that info. Sounds good!