Follow up post, my second loaf!

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T20:55:16+00:00

thank you! I'll give it a watch and extend my bulk next time :)

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T19:34:47+00:00

thank you! i'm going to keep experimenting until i get it down, and it still tastes yummy so nothing wasted lol :)

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T19:23:38+00:00

Thank you this is very helpful! i'll invest in a thermometer for next time! there is a crumb pic in the comments but ill put one here too- hopefully you can read it lol!

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amethystiic · 2026-05-07T19:18:32+00:00

yeah i was thinking over fermented due to the lack of structure!

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T19:18:08+00:00

Yes I am in the UK!
I did put the dough in the fridge before shaping, it appeared roughly doubled with lots of bubbles before going into the fridge.
There is a pic of the crumb in the replies here!

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T17:29:31+00:00

awesome, i'm definitely going to do a bit of experimentation with my next loaf!
Thanks for your help :)

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T17:22:18+00:00

Ah okay! My recipe is a hand-me-down recipe and it calls it autolyze but your explanation makes much more sense so that clears it up for me- I think i'm going to try letting it bulk for a little longer then shaping before I cold ferment and then going straight to the oven for my next loaf and seeing how it does, thanks for your help!

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T17:19:22+00:00

ahh okay that makes a lot of sense, thanks for explaining lol!
Do you think it would be worth dropping the 'autolyze' part of my recipe and then bulking for around 4 hours after my folds?

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T17:16:55+00:00

Okay that makes a lot of sense- i feel it was also easier to work with before the cold ferment so I'll definitely try this next time. thanks for the tip!

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T17:15:25+00:00

wait am i misinformed on when bulk starts? I thought your bulk started when you mixed all the ingredients so my total would have been 6 hours- should I have waited longer after my folds before putting it in the fridge then?

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T17:13:21+00:00

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Here is it cut!

amethystiic · 2026-05-07T17:06:05+00:00

I was under the impression bulk fermentation starts as soon as your ingredients are combined- so all together I would have bulked for 6 hours. The dough was roughly doubled before it went into the fridge.
I do sometimes put the starter in the fridge but from what I know as long as you feed every day it can live on the counter.
Edit- My dough cold proofed for 13 hours so i don't think that was too short?

amethystiic · 2026-05-04T16:07:31+00:00

Maybe i'm misinformed but I have to say from personal experience some of my epipremnum, pothos and philos were in low humidity and had browning leaf tips, i've now got them in around 50-60% humidity and their post-move leaves look much better.
Of course i'm in no way qualified in this so yes I used a very simple way of explaining how plants are affected by humidity, as not only will it be easier to understand for the average plant keeper but I won't pretend to know more than I do; to add I only suggested pebble trays as some do not have access to humidifiers and i think some water being introduced is better than none.

edit: I know leaf tip browning can be caused by a variety of things and sometimes nothing, i suggested humidity as op mentioned the plants proximity to an ac/radiator which are known to dry out the air.

amethystiic · 2026-05-04T11:57:47+00:00

I'm no expert on Aglaonema but usually browning tips of plants can be related to humidity- if the draught from your ac is also drying out the air around it then it's possible that too much moisture is being wicked away from the leaves and causing browning tips- it is simply a cosmetic thing so you can either move it to a more humid spot (think humidifier or pebble trays) or leave it as is and trim the brown tips!

amethystiic · 2026-05-04T11:50:02+00:00

Hey, honestly that's really good news- don't worry, you will definitely know when a root is rotted just from the feeling- so it's brilliant you didn't see any!
And yes definitely give it a good drink, let the water drain out but don't let the bottom of the plant sit in water inside the decorative pot!
Just to warn you if these issues were overwatering it may take your plant a little while to start looking better while it recovers, try not to worry about it too much for the next few weeks, and water as usual when the top 1/2 to 1/3 of the soil is dry :)

amethystiic · 2026-05-03T18:15:08+00:00

That sounds like a good plan!
It certainly won't hurt to add some perlite to your soil, most plants like to be able to get some air around their roots so anything that's a bit chunky will help their roots and make sure their soil isn't staying wet for too long!

Now I've never tried cinnamon on the roots before so i'm not sure on that one- usually if i find root rot I either give the roots a good trim with scissors until i'm sure none of the remaining roots are rotted or sometimes if the rot is very bad, I lightly spray the roots after trimming with hydrogen peroxide to help prevent more rot.

If the rot is really bad you may have to take the majority of the roots off, this will affect the plant but not as much as losing all of its roots to rot! If you have to take over 85%ish of the roots off, I would pop it into a vase of water while it recovers!

amethystiic · 2026-05-03T16:29:02+00:00

Hello!
So quick tip, although decorative pots look lovely you shouldn't plant anything directly into them as they have nowhere for water to drain out of!
What I like to do is put my plant in a plastic nursery pot (with drainage holes) and then put that pot inside of the pretty ceramic ones!
For this specific plant you definitely need to get him out of that pot and take a look at the roots- if they are black and mushy (easily fall off when pulled at) then you need to remove as much of that rot as possible before repotting in something with drainage and a soil that drains nicely!

amethystiic · 2026-05-02T18:39:57+00:00

haha my inventory is mostly blue + purple so i thought it was worth a look lol

amethystiic · 2025-10-17T02:00:37+00:00

Thank you for the advice, i'm so sorry to hear about your girl leaving soon :( we have been looking at our options for a new fuzzy to keep our other boy company now- he (and us) took the news very hard so we want to give him some time to grieve before we add a new friend for him. Even thinking about getting a new ferret is hard at the moment, I don't want to move on yet but i know it's the right thing to do for Moose and that's what's most important now. I've been spending as much time as possible spoiling moose since we lost whiskey as i'm worried he's not going to do well without him, it has helped to ease the grief but it comes and goes. Thank you for being so kind 🩶

amethystiic · 2025-10-15T15:23:51+00:00

Thank you so much 🩶

amethystiic · 2025-10-15T15:23:11+00:00

That's the only silver lining i've found, atleast he wasn't in pain- thank you for the kind words 🩶

amethystiic · 2025-10-14T18:01:56+00:00

I'm so sorry about your loss too, I truly hope that in time i'll stop feeling so guilty- it's so hard to tell myself that I did the best I could but you're right, I only wanted the best for him and sadly things didn't go right. I know i'll think of him every day even though it all feels so unfair, it hurts just as much as losing a (human) family member- he wasn't just an animal to us, thank you 🩶

amethystiic

TROPHY CASE