Starter at 12 days is slowing down

Hey Folks:

Here's a digest of the first 10 days: http://weightloss-slim.fit/node/62865/help-starter-10-days%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EBasically I had a starter that was doubling nicely every 10-12 hours from days 7-9. Then when I increased the feeding ratio from 1:1:1 to 1:2:2 the growth slowed severely. Seems like I've diluted the colony too much? When I've tried to push the temp up with a heating pad, it grows a bit faster, but smells quite alcoholic. Last night I returned to 1:1:1 feeding ratio and growth was at about 30% this morning.

Major factors that are different than most starters: I'm using 100% whole wheat flour (until my bread flour arrives), and it's a bit coarse (maybe hard to digest?), and my apartment is cooler than most (64-68 most times). The only other flours I have available right now are bleached AP and potato starch. Not sure if either of those are good for feeding or not.

Should I just keep on trucking? Anything I should particularly pay attention to? I plan to continue 2 feeds per day at 1:1:1 and hope for the best. It just seems strange that I built up a good strong starter, then it crashed when I gave it more food to eat.

Thanks for any tips!

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by 1:2:2.. do you mean 1 part flour to 2 parts water? Please clarify.

Based on my experiences, if you are working at 100% hydration for your starter, it will not necessarily "double" in size though it may still be active enough to bake with it.

It sounds like it's going OK, so I'd just keep feeding every 12 hours, and once it's become consistent, either carry on or transfer to fridge so you can feed less frequently.

1:2:2 means 1 part mature starter 2 parts water en 2 parts flour.

Thanks! I've never been that strict with my amount of mature starter - just feed it the same every time, ha