How fast do kefir grains grow?
Water kefir can reproduce rapidly under the right conditions and some luck. They will grow anywhere from 5%-400% within 48 hours. We’ve seen 5% in the winter and 400% in the summer, with other %’s everywhere in between (and not always with an answer as to why). Sometimes water kefir has ‘lag times’ where they will just slow down for one reason or another. In the winter they may have diminished growth because of the season. It is also interesting that smaller grains will reproduce much more rapidly than larger grains (this is because there is a greater surface area that can grab nutrients from the water).
