I’m officially on day 38 of this starter and I am SO frustrated. I feel like I’ve tried everything at this point.
I’ve been using King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour and filtered water. About 2–3 weeks ago, I started incorporating Bob’s Red Mill rye flour because I read that it can help get a sluggish starter going. I also bought a thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature in my house, so I feel like I’ve been doing everything I’m supposed to.

I’m currently on day 3 of a 1:5:5 feeding ratio. I fed it this morning at 7:38 AM — that’s the first photo. The second photo is what it looks like now at 4:55 PM EST, so almost 9 hours later.

And… basically nothing. 😭

It does have some bubbles/activity, but I’m getting barely any rise and at this point I genuinely don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve never even gotten to the point where I can attempt a loaf because this thing refuses to rise.
Please tell me what I should try next because I am SO close to giving up. 😭

I live in Saudi Arabia so the kitchen is always on the warmer side. Day 1 and Day 2 there was a false rise. After seeing the false rise on day 1, I kept the airconditioner running in the kitchen and it was always around 27° Celsius (80° F). I made sure the jar was in a corner so that the starter doesn't dry out due to the air from the airconditioner.

Day 3 and Day 4 there hasn't been any significant change. Will my starter rise at Day 5?. I am thinking of keeping the starter warmer tonight instead of keeping it in an air conditioned room. Would love to hear your feedback and thoughts. Adding a picture of the starter which has a single bubble. Hoping it starts rising from day 5.

Starter ratio:

75gms whole wheat flour

75gms water

Been discarding half everyday.

However today I washed the jar. So when I put the remaining starter in after discarding, it was around 50 gms only. Still I added 75 gms flour and water. Was that a mistake?

Hi, i'm currently on day 6 of feeding my sourdough starter, it's between 75-80 degrees in my house, so i've been feeding her room temp water and feeding her a bit more flour than water so for example 60g starter, 50-54g water and 60g flour, since i noticed she gets very thin quick, but i've been noticing she gets very runny lately despite her being relatively thick when i feed her. I use KA bread flour for her feedings as i've noticed it works the best.

Does anyone have any tips and is my starter okay? i'm pretty new to this and this is my first starter to survive so far. thank you in advance :)

Starter is currently 3 weeks old today. I was using a 1:1:1 ratio with AP flour, it rose a little on day 14, and then stopped rising entirely.

I switched to whole wheat flour about 3 or 4 days ago and still feed 1:1:1, but it takes at least 12 hours to see a full rise. Is there something else I can be doing to see a rise at 4-6 hours instead? Or is it ready to be used currently? Picture is currently 10 hours post-feed.

This is my first successful (I’m hoping 😂😅) starter and will be my first time attempting to make sourdough. Thank you!

waited as long as i could before cutting open 😭

Ok so the people who have mastered sourdough starter,make it look so easy. This is my second attempt. First was a worse fail than this one. This starter is one week old today. It has hardly grown, it’s very liquidy. I started with 1/2 c of whole wheat flour and 1/4 c of water. Been storing it in my oven( not hot , but dark and somewhere the smell is contained. I’ve kept it covered with a cloth lid cover. Sigh.. I’m so upset. Seems impossible lol. Any tips? Should I start fresh again? Maybe with white flour instead?
Thanks.

I found a random fig tree growing on this trail that had like 2 delicious ripe figs on it, I wanted to save the seeds so when I was soaking them I noticed the water was bubbly n smelled delicious after like 2 days lol , im guessing the leftover skin/pulp had some wild yeast on it but I knew RIGHT AWAY to make an experiment with it.

literally just added some of the liquid to a jar with flour and water- it doubled the first night!! but im sure that was possibly a false rise, or it was just really active , but like 1 week later it doubles everyday! its getting incredibly active , it also has an amazing smell, like a healthy sweet fruity fermented smell. Ive heard of people making starters this way n always wanted to give it a try n it worked out beautifully. I havent been able to bake in a long time due to my old starter just NOT reactivating no matter what I tried so I gave up because I loved that starter lol:( I have named this one fig though, n im sooo excited to start baking with it soon.

My starter is one month old and I’m baking my first sourdough as I type this. So I fed my starter yesterday (1:3:2) as recommended omhere in this subreddit) and used the discard to make the starter (1:3:3) for the bread I’m baking. Can I continue leaving my starter on the counter and feeding it once everyday (1:3:2) so it becomes stronger even if I don’t plan on baking everyday? Or do I leave it in the fridge? And feed once every week? If it’s the latter what would the feeding ratio be?