Simple Kombucha continuous brew recipe

Very simple Kombucha (чайный гриб) continuous brew recipe 

I wrote an earlier blog post on kombucha SCOBY and described what a scoby is compared to the pellicle and starter liquid.  That post started to get a little long so I decided to stop there and write a separate post on the kombucha recipe we use.  

There are plenty of kombucha recipes on the internet.  They pretty much all work because it is actually hard to go wrong brewing kombucha when you use both pellicle and starter liquid. 

I am not suggesting that the way I brew kombucha is the best way to do it, or even a good way to do it, I am only saying it is simple and it works for me.  This blog post is partly a way for me to record this in case I ever forget how to do this in the future.

Continuous brew чайный гриб

I tend to do continuous brew rather than messing around with batches and bottling and using fridge space.  Continuous brew works for me, it never goes wrong, I don't see how it could go wrong, and it takes very little time and effort.  

Some people much prefer batch brewing.  I hear about these going wrong from time to time.  Apparently the issues with batch brewing are simple enough to avoid.  I can't offer any advice on batch brewing or flavouring kombucha because I don't do that.  

Continuous brew and batch brew are both good methods, which one to use is more about personal preference than anything else.  The scoby doesn't care if you do continuous brew or batch brew, you could try both and see what you prefer.  

Kombucha ready to drink

Kombucha looks like beer or apple cider

I have a large glass jar with a tap.  This jar contains one or more pellicles and some finished kombucha/starter liquid.  

I drew two lines on the jar, one at 4 liters, the other at 6 liters.  I fill it up to the 6L line, we drink it as wanted and I refill it once it drops to the 4L line.  It is simple, and a little inconsistent, but can never fail unless there is some mechanical failure such as the jar gets smashed or the tap falls out.  

I don't put the lid on the jar as the scoby needs some air.  Instead I tend to keep a cloth on top of the jar, this keeps out insects and dust.  I used to hold the cloth on with a rubber band, but stopped bothering with that a few years ago and the cloth just sitting on top still does the trick.  

Continuous brew чайный гриб recipe

Once we drink enough that the liquid drops to the 4L line I fill it with sweet tea that has cooled.  Never use hot tea as this will kill (or at least damage) the scoby. 

1. I boil 2L of water, add 1/2 cup white sugar, and 2 or 3 tea bags.  I mostly use regular black tea bags, but sometimes also include a bag of green tea.  
2. I let this steep for about 5 to 15 minutes, then remove the tea bags.  
3. I let this cool to room temperature.  
4. Once cooled I pour this sweet tea in my jar, and it is ready to drink in a few days (or immediately if you prefer it sweeter).  

Let me stress that I always allow it to cool before adding it to my jar, never add this when still hot or it will kill the scoby.  

Some people use more sugar while others use less sugar, some people use more tea bags others use less tea bags.  Sometimes I use some black tea and include some green tea, other times I only use black tea.  I use tea bags so I don't have to strain out any leaves, using loose leaf tea would also be fine as long as you can strain out the leaves.  

If I go away for a while I just fill it up and it is fine when I return.  I don't have a lid on my jar so there is no risk of building too much pressure.  The contents of the jar are too acidic for most pathogens to survive, so there is no danger there.  A pantry moth or something could get in and I would have to deal with that, but that hasn't happened here yet.

Continuous brew kombucha simply works, you can't really go wrong as long as you let the tea cool before adding to the jar and the scoby is strong. 

Continuous brew kombucha, I keep a cloth on top 

My jar already has a pellicle, and 4L or so of starter, so it brews quickly and is ready to drink in next to no time.  I hear of other people having to wait two weeks before their brew is ready, they tend to use significantly less starter liquid than I do.  

Sometimes when we are drinking a lot of kombucha this drops a bit below the 4L line before I have a chance to refill it, that doesn't really matter.  Other times I refill before it reaches the line, again this doesn't really matter.  Over summer it brews a lot faster, over winter it brews far slower.  This is not a precise science.  

Most recipes suggest adding a pellicle and 10% starter liquid to 90% tea, this works fine but is a lot slower than how I do it.  I use about 66% starter liquid and about 33% sweet tea, and it brews very fast.  We tend to drink some kombucha most days, so want to fill my jar and have it ready to drink as soon as possible.  Sometimes my kids drink it as soon as I filled it, I prefer to wait a few days as I like the sharper taste.

It usually has more bubbles

While my method may not be the best way to brew kombucha, the fact that I can keep a continuous brew going like this for a few years is testament to the fact that this method is working.  Perhaps there are better methods, but this works for me, and it is so simple. 

If you have a kombucha recipe that is different, and it works for you, please keep using it.  If you try one recipe and don't love it, then change it and try something different.  One of the best parts of kombucha is nothing is precise, and you really can't fail.  

If you are new to brewing kombucha, it is difficult for anything to go wrong if you brew using both pellicle and starter liquid.  Some people discard the pellicle from every batch, which works for them, but when first learning how to do this it is best to include the pellicle as well as the starter liquid.

чайный гриб has been brewed by people at home since at least the 1800s, it is simple and inexpensive.  I have never used a heat mat, I don't have a thermometer, nothing is overly precise and nothing ever goes wrong.  At worst I leave it too long before drinking and it tastes a little too sour for my liking.  

If you want to try brewing kombucha at home, you could try using unflavoured kombucha from the shops.  This will likely have a significantly lower number of strains and you can't be certain it has not been pasturised (killing many of the bacteria and yeasts) prior to sale.  You are better off finding someone who brews kombucha and buying a scoby (not just a pellicle) from them.  If you can't find any locally, and you are located in Australia, my contact details can be found on my for sale page.  

Hedou micro dwarf bok choy

Hedou micro dwarf bok choy (Brassica rapa) is one of the smallest, and fastest growing, varieties of bok choy.  It is sometimes called an extra dwarf, or micro dwarf variety, and is far smaller than baby bok choy.

I recorded the number of days this takes to grow a few times, this little one takes about a month from planting the seed to harvesting full size plants, and takes about 10 weeks from planting the seed until the next seeds are ready for harvest.  

Hedou micro bok choy

Last winter I had a container of soil that I planned to grow something in during the warmer months.  I didn't think of using this for anything else until mid winter, and there was not a huge amount of time before I wanted to plant something else in there.  

Rather than leaving it empty over winter, I grew some hedou bok choy in there.  This had ample space for root growth, and could fit a lot of plants.  

Once they flowered and died I was able to plant some perennial buckwheat in the container.  This meant I got to eat some of these bok choy, I refreshed my seed stocks, and didn't have to tie up useable space growing this as the container would have otherwise just been empty.  This was a great use of (otherwise unused) space.

Micro bok choy

All varieties of Brassica rapa cross pollinate readily.  I didn't want to cross this with other bok choy or tokyo bekana.  For this reason I grow some Hedou bok extra dwarf choy in my garden, but don't let it go to seed.  

To ensure I keep my line pure, I grew some Hedou micro dwarf Bok Choy in my greenhouse and only collect seed from these plants.  Seed set is lower in the greenhouse as few pollinators live in there, and many are captured by my sundews.  The lack of pollinators also means the chances of cross pollination are incredibly low.  

Hedou micro bok choy

These plants grew very fast.  Some were culled/eaten, others were allowed to flower and set seed.

Even though my line is not crossed with any other variety, there is a chance to add some selective pressure.  I tend to cull heavily and only allow individuals to flower if they possess all the traits I want to see.

Even though these plants are tiny, I want strong vigorous plants.  Anything that appeared weak was culled.  I don't want weak genetics in my line. 

I grow everything organically so want my plants to have natural resistance to pests.  You will notice holes in many of the leaves, this is unavoidable.  Anything that was affected by a lot of pests was culled.  

Hedou bok choy grows taller when in flower, perhaps 40cm tall, some plants are taller than others.  The flowers are typical yellow brassica flowers.  

Some plants produce very few flowers, these were culled as I want my line to be fertile and simple to save seed from. 

Bok Choy Flowers

Hedou bok choy flowering

The plants allowed to flower and set seed all posses the traits I want to see in this line.  In this way I am keeping the line pure, and I am selecting for desirable traits.  

Seed saving is simple.  As they were pollinated in my greenhouse they would have pollinated one another and little to no crossing with other varieties could have occurred.  I allow the plants to grow and then die naturally.  Then I allow the seed pods to dry on the plant.  Eventually I collected the seeds to plant later.  

I certainly don't get a lot of seed when they are in the greenhouse due to the low numbers of pollinators, but the seed produced is pure and not contaminated with other varieties.  I try to hand pollinate some flowers, but I can't do as good a job as insects.

I sometimes sell seed of Hedou bok choy, as well as other vegetables, if you are interested they are listed on my for sale page. 

Kombucha (чайный гриб) SCOBY

For a few years we made чайный гриб (pronounced as chai-knee grib).  This translates to tea mushroom.  The beverage itself is sometimes known as grib “mushroom”.  I have read on the internet that it is also affectionately called gribok “little mushroom”, but have never heard anyone use this term.  Most people in Australia call this drink kombucha. 

Kombucha is sweet tea that has been fermented using SCOBY.  If you make kombucha at home it is cheap and surprisingly simple to do.  Many people flavour it with various things, while some of these are nice I prefer to drink it as is without flavouring.  

SCOBY is an acronym for Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast.  Various studies have been done to count the number of species present in the scoby, while these numbers range dramatically depending on the scoby tested (and keeping in mind that each scoby will gain and/or lose species as time passes), kombucha often contains around 200 species with 20 bacteria and 16 yeast being the most dominant. 

People often like to think that symbiosis means all the organisms working together in balanced harmony to benefit each other.  The truth is far less romantic.  Symbiosis only means different organisms living together for a period of time, symbiosis does not have to be mutually beneficial, or even beneficial at all.  

In kombucha, all the organisms are competing for survival, some of them benefit from this arrangement, others less so, some even entrap and almost 'farm' others.  These organisms competing for survival make the environment too harsh for non-beneficial organisms, while adding health benefits to the drink.  It is a fascinating subject that is poorly researched, and no two scoby's are exactly the same.  

kombucha jellyfish

For some inexplicable reason there is a growing number of people who like to argue (looking at you Reddit) over what exactly is the 'SCOBY' in kombucha.  It seems like semantics to me.  They will also aggressively demand that scoby is written all in capitals because it is an acronym, they are correct on that point, but I find it harder to read when all in capitals so tend to use lower case. 

Kombucha pellicle

When making kombucha at home it often has a pellicle.  The pellicle is a flat thing that looks a bit like a pancake, or a jellyfish, (or a placenta).  Some people refer to the pellicle as the scoby, while others aggressively attack them for using this term as it is not strictly accurate.  

The pellicle is made of cellulose that is built by bacteria.  The scoby lives in and on and under the pellicle, you could not separate them if you tried.  The pellicle helps to protect the scoby, and helps the scoby survive if conditions are not ideal.  Kombucha pellicles have been tested in the international space station to see how it protects against radiation etc - it is a fascinating subject.  We don't fully understand how the pellicle works, or exactly what it does, but we know it has a role for the microorganisms interacting with each other.  While the pellicle is not the scoby, I don't see much harm in calling the pellicle the scoby, to me it seems like semantics.  

While certainly not ideal, it is possible to brew kombucha by simply adding the pellicle to sweetened tea.  This is possible, and I have done it, but things could go wrong.  The main problem is the liquid will generally not be acidic enough to prevent other microorganisms from growing.  Another issue is most of the scoby are in/on the pellicle rather than mixed through the liquid.  If starting kombucha with only using the pellicle, by the time enough of the scoby are in the liquid and the pH is low enough there are also many other microorganisms who have started to grow.  For this reason you should always include at least some starter tea when brewing kombucha.  Most people add about 10% starter to 90% sweet tea but I include a lot more.  You could only use the pellicle and add something acidic to lower the pH, but it is easier and better to just include some starter tea.  

Kombucha

Kombucha starter tea

Some people refer to the kombucha liquid that you drink as the SCOBY.  Again, this is not technically true.  The liquid is tea and waste products after it has been partly digested by bacteria and yeast (it sounds gross, but it is good for you).  The scoby lives in this liquid, and feeds off this liquid, and you could not separate them if you tried.  While the liquid is also not the scoby, I don't see any harm in people referring to the liquid as the scoby, again it seems like semantics.  

It is possible to brew kombucha by simply adding some starter liquid to sweet tea.  I am told the finished kombucha brew tastes different than when the pellicle is also added.  

Fermenting kombucha using only the liquid and no pellicle works well enough because this liquid is too acidic for many harmful microorganisms to thrive, the scoby are mixed through the liquid, and the scoby can multiply quickly and make the environment too harsh for other microorganisms to get a foothold.  

kombucha jellyfish in a jar

For those who disagree with me that the pellicle acts as biofilm and can be used effectively as an inoculum, I thought I would include a link to a paper on this topic and quote some relevant parts.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8371556/#:~:text=Kombucha%20pellicles%20are%20often%20used,part%20of%20the%20kombucha%20consortia.

The below talks about what the pellicle is, the different layers, and the role of entrapped yeasts: 

The kombucha biofilm presents similarities to cellulosic pellicles grown by pure acetic acid bacteria (AAB) in sugared black tea but differs by the presence of yeast, which are involved from the early steps of biofilm formation. Based on observations, the formation model consists in an initial trapping and aggregation of yeasts (possibly in pseudo-mycelium form) in bacterial cellulose. With accumulation of cellulose and cells, a consistent layered pellicle is formed and, from then on, grows in thickness. The top layer at the interface with air is made of parallel cellulose fibrils and hosts yeasts and bacteria, while the bottom surface at the interface with liquid is made of cellulose network colonized by bacteria and where biomass accumulates. Finally, a middle layer located under the top cellulosic layer is filled with biomass and viable bacterial cells that are suspected to be the active agents of pellicle growth. This region is thought to play a nutritional function for bacteria by taking advantage of entrapped yeast metabolism and autolysis, thus revealing an aspect of the microbial interactions in kombucha. This study indicates that the yeast–AAB interactions in kombucha act on the structure and building of the pellicle, which could, in turn, enhance other types of interactions, including the metabolic interplay necessary for optimal kombucha production.

Some people brew kombucha without ever using a pellicle, and throw away every pellicle they see.  While this seems to work for them, for a beginner I would not recommend it.  Brewing kombucha using both starter tea as well as the pellicle is very simple, and it has been demonstrated to produce a healthy result.  Using both pellicle and starter tea is the traditional way to make kombucha, and it is really hard for anything undesirable to start growing.  

For someone who is just starting out brewing kombucha, it is easiest to use both pellicle and starter tea.  The pellicle and the starter liquid both contain live SCOBY, and including both when brewing kombucha is simple and gives a beginner no real way to fail.  Including both the pellicle and the starter tea ensures you will have the maximum diversity of microorganisms, it will have the maximum number of beneficial microbes, and it gives the best chance that they will be interacting in ways you want them to.  

Once you have done a few kombucha brews and have a feel for how things should progress, as well as what looks normal, feel free to discard the pellicle and only brew using the liquid (which is simple), or to only use the pellicle (but only if you are very confident you know what you are doing).  When you are still learning, however, I strongly suggest using both the liquid and the pellicle.  

If you are new to kombucha, and are buying scoby to get started, don't just buy a pellicle.  Make sure you get pellicle and some of the starter liquid.  

Kombucha

Kombucha continuous brew 

There are plenty of kombucha recipes on the internet.  They all work because it is hard to go wrong brewing kombucha when you use both pellicle and starter liquid.  

I tend to do continuous brew rather than messing around with batches and bottling and using fridge space.  Continuous brew works for me, it never goes wrong, and it takes very little time and effort.  

Other people prefer batch brewing.  This works for them, and they are happy with the result.

They are both good methods, they both work well, it is just personal preference.  

Continuous brew чайный гриб

You can see in the photo above I have a large jar that has a tap.  It is simple, and can never fail unless the jar gets smashed or the tap falls out.  

I don't put the lid on the jar as the scoby needs some air.  I tend to keep a cloth on top of the jar, this keeps out insects and dust.  I used to hold the cloth on with a rubber band, but stopped bothering with that a few years ago and it still does the trick.  

This blog post is getting a little long.  At some stage I will try to write another blog post with the kombucha recipe I use. 

Red jelly bean succulent

Red jelly bean succulent (Sedum rubrotinctum) is green with a slight reddish tinge for most of the growing season.  When stressed, however, this variety of jelly bean succulent gets a lot of red colouration.  

Red jelly bean succulent

Winter brings out the colours

Many succulents can take on some impressive colours when under stress, the red jellybean succulent is no exception.  

Over summer many succulents take on some impressive colouration to protect themselves from the harsh sun.  The cold weather of winter seems to bring out the best colouration where I live.  During spring and autumn they are less red and more greenish.  

Various succulent cuttings - some have winter colours

The little plant in the front of this picture is usually green

String of beans gets purplish in my winter

The slight pink is only over winter in this one

Red jelly bean succulents are very simple to grow.  They grow equally well in a small pot on a window sill as they do in the garden.  They prefer full sun, but can survive a little shade.  These little succulents look delicate, but are surprisingly hardy.  

The healthiest red jelly bean plants I have seen were under large eucalyptus trees in poor soil.  The tree had sucked most of the moisture out of the soil, and provided a slight frost shadow.  Life under that tree would be pretty harsh, yet these plants thrived there.  

I am told jelly bean succulents are not frost hardy, but mine have survived years of heavy frosts with little protection.  They survive drought and blasting sun, and they cope surprisingly well in the wind.  

Red jellybean succulent

Propagation of jelly bean succulents is simple.  Each leaf, each little jelly bean, can be planted and will produce a new plant.  Given how small the leaves are this is a slow way to make more plants and I prefer not to propagate this plant from its leaves.  

To propagate them I tend to take stem cuttings.  Snip a section off that has some leaves attached, leave it for a few days somewhere in the shade for the wound to heal, then plant it in soil.  It really is simple.  A stem can usually be cut into several pieces if wanted, or left larger, either way works well as long as the stem has at least one leaf attached.  

Sometimes the stems already have roots, sometimes they don't, either way I get 100% success rate from propagating these from stems.  The stems I use always have at least some leaves, I have never tried to propagate using a stem with no leaves, it may work.  

They get more green when not stressed

For me these succulents flower in spring.  The flowers are small and yellow, and appear in clusters.  I would not grow these for the flowers as they are not overly impressive, but I don't make any attempt to remove the flowers as I don't dislike them.  

The flowers aren't large and don't seem to have a scent.  I have seen some insect pollinators on the flowers from time to time.  I don't know how easily these set seed, or how easily they grow from seed.  

There are various (remarkably different looking) forms of this species, if they grow well from seed it would not be difficult to develop a new variety by crossing them.  

Clusters of small yellow flowers

Red jellybean succulents are relatively common succulents.  They look nice, are simple to grow, and are very simple to propagate.  They may be found for sale in a local garden center.  

If you can't find any for sale in a local plant nursery I sell red jelly bean succulents and can post to most states in Australia.  During postage some leaves may fall off, if this happens don't worry.  You can plant these leaves and you should end up with one large healthy plant that you bought, and a bunch of cute baby plants from the leaves.  The baby plants can be left in the same pot as the mother and allowed to catch up in size before repotting.

Duckling and pigeon

A few years ago when we lived on acreage we found a baby crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) that had fallen out of its nest.  Crested pigeons are a native bird, they are nice birds.  

It was fully feathered, but could not yet fly.  We called the local wildlife rescue people who could not pick it up until the next day.  At that time we had some very young ducklings in a brooder, so we put the baby pigeon in with them for the night.  

Thought it was worth sharing the photos as they are super cute.  

Duckling and pigeon

Super cutie

Fruit tree hedge bad idea

When we moved here the land behind us was paddocks that was being developed into housing.  What was paddocks filled with sheep is now rather ugly and brand new housing that seem to change owners almost annually.  

People can see into our windows at night, and over summer the heat of the day radiates as if it is a hot plate.  We decided to plant a hedge to screen it off so we could have windows open at night without people being able to see in our windows, and to hopefully block some of the heat.  

We decided to plant fruit trees for the hedge.  Why plant a tree and get nothing from it?  We knew fruit trees would lose leaves over winter, but figured we mostly had curtains closed over winter so that should not be too much of a problem.  We planted two different apples, a peach, and a nectarine because these grow well in this climate and I like their fruit. 

Our trees are established now, and over summer they do a great job of screening off the shanty town behind us.  In spring they are covered in blossom and look incredible.  It blocks a surprising amount of heat over summer.  

It is good to share what works for me, it is also good to share what does not work for me so people can learn from my mistakes.  Even with all the benefits, I regret planting this hedge. 

View from fence towards house, windows nicely protected

View from house - can't see the houses back there

If I had a chance I would never have planted a deciduous fruit tree hedge.  If you are thinking of planting a fruit tree hedge, I would advise against it.  

Over winter there are no leaves.  We knew this and figured that would be fine because curtains are closed at night.  We were wrong, it isn't fine.  During the day we sit on our deck and eat lunch in the sun, and we can see the houses behind us.  Sunny winter days we have curtains open, and the street behind can see in unimpeded.  

Pruning a hedge is very different to pruning to get fruit.  I currently prune part way between the two methods, we get less fruit and have a less dense hedge.  To be honest, pruning this hedge is a pain.  

Pruning fruit trees for fruit is simple, pruning a hedge for privacy is simple, pruning this mess to be both hedge and produce fruit is harder and takes a lot more time than it should.  Admittedly we do get fruit from this, but not very much.

Deciduous fruit trees were a poor choice for a hedge.

Fruit tree hedge from the side

Someone suggested we should have planted a citrus hedge as they are evergreen and provide fruit.  This was considered, but decided against as most citrus don't survive well here without protection.  We have a meyer lemon next to the house, it is well protected and gets heat from the brick wall at night.  They would not cope well out in my yard like this with no protection.  That being said, they might work well in warmer climates.  

Someone suggested feijoa.  I think that would take far too long to reach a decent height as they grow slow here.  I planted a feijoa tree at the same time as these apples and stone fruit.  The feijoa is only about 5 feet tall.  A house down the road had a feijoa hedge near their fence, it was never dense, and never grew more than chest tall.  I have seen really tall feijoa at other places.  Feijoa survive and fruit well here, but perhaps the conditions are too harsh here for them to reach their height potential.  Or maybe the larger feijoa I have seen were just older.  There is a feijoa hedge in a park near where I work, it is old and looks ok as a hedge, but it is too short and produces next to no fruit each year.  It seems like feijoa are not suitable as a tall hedge in my climate.  

Another person suggested Chilean guava (Myrtus ugni) as a hedge.  I can't imagine a hedge of these, they are too short.  I planted one around the same time as the fruit trees, it is only a bit over knee high, maybe waist high.  Some years it grows well, others it dies back and gets smaller.  I have never seen one over a meter tall.  I looked online and it is says they only grow 1 meter to 2 meters.  If you want a short edible hedge then I think rosemary would be a better choice.   

Things like olives are slower growing and are a bit too scraggly to work well as a hedge unless they are well cared for.  Loquat are also slow growing, and not dense enough to hedge well here without a lot of work.  

These plants may work well as hedges in other climates, but they wouldn't work well as hedges in my garden.

Short edible hedges of things like rosemary or lavender would work, but anything taller seems to be more work and less effective than a non-edible hedge.  

If you want to plant a tall hedge and live in an area of cool winters, then fruiting trees may not be your best option.  Perhaps learning from my mistake would be wise.  If you really want to plant a deciduous fruiting hedge, go for it.  Perhaps you will work out a better way to prune, or perhaps you will make better choices of fruiting plants.  

Saffron crocus

Saffron (Crocus sativus) is a very easy plant to grow.  I have been growing saffron for a number of years, and it flowers reliably for me each year.  While the spice is expensive, growing saffron is surprisingly simple and cost effective.  

Saffron grows from a corm (a corm is similar to a bulb) and is dormant over summer.  Saffron only flowers once per year, and each saffron flower only produces three threads.  Given the price of saffron you want each corm to produce as many flowers as possible.  

Saffron threads from my plants

Saffron flowers reliably for me each year.  The flowers are pretty, and the plant takes up little space. 

From what I read online, many people seem to get good flowering in the first year but have trouble getting saffron to flower reliably in following years.  I think this is because they are following bad advice, they treat saffron corms like flowering bulbs and have poor results.  

Saffron needs slightly different conditions than most bulbs to flower well.  Luckily these conditions are even easier to achieve than the conditions needed by many flowering bulbs. 

Saffron corms 

Firstly, some things are the same between saffron corms and ornamental flower bulbs.  

Larger saffron corms produce more flowers, and smaller ones don't flower at all.  This makes sense.  You can even work out flowering size by measuring the corms.  

Don't measure the width of the corms, they aren't very round and it is impossible to know where to measure.  It is more accurate if you measure the circumference.  The simplest way is to wrap a string around the, then measure the string.  All saffron corms that have a circumference of 7cm or more will flower.  It's that simple. 

For me a corm 7cm circumference (not width) usually produces 3 or 4 flowers, and larger corms produce more flowers.  Some smaller ones may flower, but most won't.  

Mine don't often put up all the flowers at once, each corm seems to take its time and puts up a few flowers over a few weeks.  While this makes growing commercially difficult to get pickers when needed, it is not an issue for the home gardener who can pick threads whenever they are ready.  

Saffron produces beautiful flowers

Fertilising during the growing season, and leaving the leaves to gather energy and die back naturally helps the corm to grow larger and produce more flowers in the following year.  Fertilising won't help this years flowers, it will help the corm grow strong and produce flowers next year.  

I find that top dressing with guinea pig manure results in larger corms, and more flowers the following year.  I've tried using compost, green manure, vermicompost, and poultry manure, all of which work well but nothing seems to work as well as guinea pig manure.  I have never used store bought fertiliser, so can't comment on its effectiveness. 

Saffron needs a cold winter to flower well, which we have here and saffron seems to like it.  I have no idea how they would go in climates with mild winters, I assume they would struggle.  Don't lift corms and store in the fridge like a tulip, when dormant saffron corms need heat.  

Some dormant saffron corms of various sizes

Saffron needs a hot dry summer when they are dormant, which we have here.  If we get a wet summer I dig some corms and put them in the garage somewhere dry.  Putting them in the garage somewhere hot and dry would kill most flower bulbs, but heat when dormant helps saffron to flower well.  If I lift them I tend to split them into batches and put them in mesh bags and hang them on a nail.  

Leaving the corms in the soil works well only if the soil is relatively dry, if it is too wet they will rot.  I grow some in pots, I can move the pot under cover when they are dormant so they will be dry over summer.  I want to stress, do not put dormant saffron corms in the fridge, saffron corms need heat when dormant.  

The thing that makes the most difference to saffron flowering, and the thing most people get wrong, is the depth they prefer to be planted.  

Saffron flower before fully open

The advice given for most flowering bulbs are planted twice as deep as the bulb is tall.  This is far too shallow for saffron corms.  If you want saffron to flower well, they must be planted deeper.  Saffron prefers to be planted much deeper than you think.  Even though the corms are relatively small (a corm with a 7cm circumference is rather little), plant them 15-20cm deep.  Larger corms can even be planted a little deeper than that.  If you plant them shallow they will not flower well.  

Healthy saffron corms divide each year.  One corm can produce anywhere between 0 to 15 new corms each year.  I prefer my corms to produce fewer, but larger, corms.  Large corms flower, and larger corms produce the most flowers. 

Planting shallow will usually mean your corms will divide into many tiny corms, none of which will be large enough to flower.  You don't want this.  Planting deeper means you get less division, but more larger flowering size corms.  

It feels like planting a small corm under 20cm of soil is too deep, and it feels like it will not have enough energy to reach the sunlight, but they will be fine.  If you don't plant this deep they will not flower well next year.  Plant saffron corms deep. 

Saffron growing in a pot - lower plant has several flowers 

I grow saffron in large pots as well as in garden beds.  Both work well as long as I can plant the corms deep enough and they have good drainage.  Saffron corms can rot if they are too wet.  

The past few years I largely forgot about my saffron and left it to do its thing.  During this time it multiplied, and the corms got smaller and smaller.  I still got a few flowers, but overcrowding lead to less and less flowers.  

This year I divided my corms, planted some in pots, some in the garden, and some in mesh bags that I still need to plant.  I planted them deep, and fertilised with guinea pig manure.  While I won't get a lot of flowers this year, the small corms will grow larger and many should be large enough to flower next year.  

Saffron starting to flower

Saffron is a sterile triploid that does not produce seed.  

If you want to grow saffron, you must get corms.  You can not buy saffron seeds.  Saffron seeds don't exist. 

You will see a few people online selling what they claim is saffron seed.  These people are thieves, they do not have saffron seeds and they are trying to steal your money.  They will send you seed from whatever they have on hand, it won't even be crocus seed.  By the time it grows and you realise it is not saffron you have already left positive reviews and it will be too late for you to do anything to get your money back.    

Many of these thieves have pictures of other species of crocus in their listing.  This is a giveaway that they are not honest.  Saffron does not grow from seed, do not buy anything from anyone claiming to sell saffron seed.  

Dutch crocus 'pickwick' is not saffron

While saffron is given its own species name (Crocus sativus), this is slightly misleading as it is either a mutation of Crocus cartwrightianus or possibly an interspecific hybrid involving C cartwrightianus.  

Saffron is pollen sterile, but under some circumstances it is possible (albeit rather rare) for it to develop hybrid seed.  There are a few papers where pollen from C cartwrightianus produced viable seed in saffron.  You will never see seed of this cross for sale because it is very difficult to produce, and most of the seed is not viable.  I am unaware if the ploidy level of these hybrids has been tested, and I assume the resultant plants have never achieved any commercial success as they are not particularly great.  

I would love to get my hands on C cartwrightianus and try to cross them with saffron.  There used to be one place in Australia that sold this species, but they went out of business before I go a chance to buy one.  If you know anyone with this species in their collection I would very much like the chance to grow some and try to cross it with saffron.

If you are thinking of growing saffron you should give it a try.  Like most things, growing your own saffron works out to be more cost effective than buying it from the shops.   

One reputable company in Beechworth sells small packets of saffron for $3.  These packets contain 6-9 threads, which is meant to be enough saffron for an average dish for 4 people.  

My corms tends to produce 3 or 4 flowers each, which is 9-12 threads.  This means that one corm usually pays for itself in its first year, plus you get to enjoy the beautiful flowers.  

Each year the corms tend to divide and multiply, meaning you get more saffron each year.  

I used to sell saffron corms, but I don't have any for sale this summer.  I don't have many flowering size corms this year, and I don't like selling smaller corms that are unlikely to flower.  As mentioned further up in this post I divided my corms, and if all goes well I should have a lot of larger flowering size corms next year.  

If all goes well, I hope to sell saffron corms in future years.  If this happens they will be listed on my for sale page.  If you know of a source of Crocus cartwrightianus in Australia, or you have some that you may be willing to part with, my contact details are listed on my for sale page.

Growing African Violets

African violets used to be very common houseplants, they are surprisingly low maintenance if you meet their minimum requirements.  I like the looks of them, some of the colours are incredible, and I am amazed at how long they can produce flowers.  

While African violets used to be very common, and many households grew them, I don't see them for sale very often.  In the old days there were only a few varieties, and most were not all that great.  

Nowadays there are a lot more varieties, many are superior to what was available in the past, and some are not as good as the old ones, yet for some reason these plants are not commonly seen anymore.  

African Violet

I grow a few African violets, and have read a lot about their history and genetics, yet I still feel like I don't know what I am doing with them.  

I got my first African violet in early 2021, it was unnamed other than to say it was 'light blue'.  It was in a pot with a wick which made care very simple.  It is the only one I have in a pot with a wick, all the others grow in regular plant pots.  I probably should grow a few more with wicks as it really is very simple to care for plants in these pots. 

After growing this plant for about 4 years, it is still alive and flowering.  It was not overly symmetrical as I didn't rotate the pot often enough.  I t took me some time, but I eventually fixed this and evened out the plant's growth.  

I took a leaf cutting from this plant, which produced 3 baby plants.  I probably should take some more leaf cuttings as it is a lovely plant. 

My first African violet - looks better in real life (I am no photographer)

I got a leaf of another African violet variety in July or August 2023.  This leaf cutting produced baby plants, which grew well, and flowered in March 2024.  This was about 7 or 8 months after I first got the leaf.  From leaf to producing baby plants felt like it took forever, from baby plants to mature plants felt a lot faster. 

The leaf cutting grew several plants.  They flowered, then some stopped flowering.  I fertilised with leachate from my worm farm, and they flowered again.  I like the colour of its flowers.  

They stopped flowering again, so I divided them into their own pots and ended up with four healthy genetically identical plants.  I love the colour of the flowers and really should take some more leaf cuttings of this variety.  

African violet - I was told the variety is 'New Hampshire'

This stopped flowering so I divided and planted in its own pot

African violets are reasonably simple to grow.  They don't love lots of full sun and don't like deep shade, and don't cope with frosts, other than that there is not much to worry about with them.  You would likely get better results by using expensive and specialised equipment, but I don't use anything special to grow them, and so far they are doing well.

Special African violet pots with self watering wicks are strangely expensive.  I have one plant growing in one of these, and it practically takes care of it self.  All my others are in regular small plastic plant pots.  I keep considering buying some pots with wicks, perhaps one day I will do this as they really are a lot simpler to care for.  

Each year my African violets flower for most of the year.  It is incredible how many months they will bloom.  Winter is a little cold, and a bit dark, and I don't use heating or lighting and my plants don't flower well over winter for me.  Grow lights and heat mats would certainly help, but they cost money to run, and anything electrical poses a fire risk, so I don't tend to use them.  

I have seen special African violet fertiliser for sale, it is meant to be good but I have never used it.  I sometimes fertilise with leachate from my worm farm.  I don't know if this is just a coincidence, or if African violets like worm farm leachate, but each time after doing this they always throw up a flush of new growth and some flower buds.  

I have seen special African violet potting mix for sale in stores and online, other than my first plant which probably came growing in this mix I have never used it.  I buy regular potting mix, and perlite, and mix them together to make a light airy soil.  I use this mix when growing African violets, and it seems to work ok.  The regular potting mix has nutrients in it, and the perlite adds air space in the soil.  From what I have read, this is what these plants need.  Unless something goes very wrong, I will probably continue to use this mix as it is cheap and seems to do the job well.  

Seed pod beginning to develop

As well as growing the original plant, and growing new plants from leaf cuttings, I cross pollinated some flowers, and self pollinated some flowers.  These produced seed pods which contain lots of really tiny seeds.  I planted these seeds, many of which germinated.  I then accidentally dropped the pot and lost all the seedlings!  I have since pollinated more flowers, collected more tiny seeds, and have recently planted another batch of seed.  This time I plan to be more careful.  Hopefully they produce nice plants with interesting and unique flowers, but only time will tell.  

African violets seedlings are said to flower in much the same time as using a leaf cutting, but each will be genetically unique.  Growing from seed seems like a good way to increase my collection and hopefully add some more diversity of flower colours/types.  It also gives me a chance to develop something new and nice and to mess around with breeding if I can find the time and energy. 

'Light Blue' African Violet

Apparently few people grow African violets from seed, I am not sure why.  Other than fake seeds being sold through ebay, I can only find one place online who actually sells African violet seed.  I have seen a few social media posts of people who have grown nice looking plants from their own seed, but none of them appear to sell seed.  

Perhaps the lack of seed sellers is due to these lovely plants becoming unpopular.  I looked for a club or something so I could learn more, and discovered that there used to be a local club and it closed a few years ago due to lack of interest.  I looked for clubs further away, and the ones I found only have meetings during the day as their members are mostly retired people.  This surprises me because African violets can look rather incredible, and are not difficult to grow.  

African Violet - New Hampshire

Even though I have successfully grown African violets for about four years, and have propagated them using leaf cuttings, and I have self-pollinated and cross-pollinated flowers, and my seed have produced seedlings, for some reason I still feel like I don't know what I am doing with African violets.  

These plants have always seemed so mysterious, and have always been described as being difficult to grow, that something inside me still thinks I am missing something.  It almost feels wrong that they could be this simple to grow.  

Then again, plants such as saffron, watercress, and Chinese water chestnuts have reputations for being difficult yet are absurdly easy to grow and are all very productive.  Many people have killed their share of maidenhair ferns and venus flytraps, both of which are reasonably easy to grow for many years and have an undeserved reputation for being impossible to succeed with.  Perhaps the reputation of African violets as being hard to grow is equally as undeserved.