The sourdough starters have begun in a bit of chaos. The day I initially planned to begin, I noticed I did not prepare enough water, and had to restart the next day with new fruits, flour, and water. A few days into the experiment, I ran out of the provided flour, and had to purchase some All-Purpose Flour from Walmart. Circumstances out of my control changed the hourly times from 1:30-2, to 2:30-3, to 3:15-3:45, to 4:30-5, to 7:15-7:30. This gradual lapse in time will ultimately improve the schedule for the 12 hour feeding schedules, but I fear in the upcoming weekend this may come into question again as I have to return home for a few days and do not know the extent of which I can instruct a roommate to monitor my starters, even under paid instruction.
All of this to say, COVID-19 has certainly altered all of our plans quite a bit. Under a weekly lab, this situation would be much different. The validity of this experiment, per my motivations for conducting it, should still apply as in the applicable environments my work may apply to, variables involving flour availability, precise clocks, and other factors may not be easily controlled for.