(Background--I am pretty new to sourdough baking. I have made bread
fby hand on and off or years with instant yeast. I have made a few
sourdough loaves over the last week more-or-less experimentally with
pretty good results, but I don't know if I can tweak it a bit to get
even better tasting bread. I have never been to California, so have no
basis for comparison with quality sourdough breads. Certainly my
results beat anything I can buy here in the stores.)

Is there any particular recipe for sourdough starter that does better
in warmer temperatures?

My unairconditioned Florida kitchen is pretty warm at this time of
year (>85 degrees). Various sourdough starter recipes give conflicting
advice about temperature. For example, one that includes a slice of
onion suggests that 85 degrees or more is good, and I have used this
recipe with excellent results. I have also made an excellent starter
just with mashed potato powder, sugar, salt and water that made
perfect bread except that it has a nose of cooked potatoes.

Another basic recipe without the onion suggests that temperatures over
80 degrees will probably incubate the wrong bacteria and give you a
bitter flavor. Does the onion make it more tolerant to heat, or is
that just a red herring?

I don't know how accurate any of this information is and how
temperature sensitive sourdough starters are. Preferably I don't want
to be brewing toxic bacteria that will kill me.

Recipes also suggest using bottled or distilled water and not
chlorinated water. I don't really know if my local tapwater is
chlorinated or not. Certainly I would not think of using swimming pool
water! So far my starters have been OK with tap water. How crucial is
this bottled water angle?

Another recipe suggests that organic rye flour is better. How does the
organicity effect the quality of the starter, or is this just a
preference?

Any comments?