When Should You Transfer Mushrooms From One Bag Another? Easy Grow Guide

Growing mushrooms is an art that takes a lot of patience and love for the hobby, but with modern grow bags, it’s never been easier.  Grow bags are sterile, filtered bags that hold substrate, and are inoculated with mushroom spores or live cultures (either by you or by the manufacturer before the time of purchase), so that they can be stored in the right indoor environment to sprout gorgeous, mature mushrooms that are ready for your consuming pleasure.

Grow bags come in various sizes, and there may be a time when you need to move your spawn from one bag to another.  But, is that actually an okay practice, or does it damage the mushrooms?  And, if it is okay, is there a right and wrong time to transfer your mushrooms between bags?  Let’s share everything that we know.

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Why Would You Want to Transfer Your Mushrooms from One Bag to Another?

First, let’s talk about the reasons why a person may want to transfer mushrooms into a new bag to begin with, since you may be wondering.  

Reason #1: Your Mushrooms Have Outgrown Your Current Bag

The most common reason for moving mushrooms is because they’re simply growing beyond the capacity of the bag, or getting too crowded as they begin to really mature.  In that case, it’s best to move them to a new vessel, as that will allow them to continue growing in a way that’s healthy. 

Keep in mind that as they grow, they keep taking nutrients from the substrate, as well as moisture.  So, if they outgrow your current bag, they may end up taking more nutrients and water than what your current bag of substrate can actually offer them.

Reason #2: Your Bag Has Gotten Damaged

Another reason may be that your bag has somehow gotten damaged – like a tear or other kind of opening that’s now causing too much substrate to seep out.  In this case, you would need to place the mushrooms into a new bag.

Reason #3: Your Bag Filter isn’t Working Right

Maybe you bought a low-quality bag, and the filter wasn’t made all that well, so either contaminants are clearly getting in, or airflow just isn’t running through your substrate.  In that case, rather than waste your spawn, you’d want to simply relocate the contents into a new mushroom bag.

Reason #4: It’s Not Maintaining the Right Moisture Level

Another issue could be that for whatever reason, you’re not getting the ideal moisture level within the bag that you’ve been using, due to poor quality of materials or the wrong spawn to bulk ratio.

Can You Transfer Your Shrooms Between Bags?

Ultimately, the answer is, “yes” – you can move your existing mushrooms from one bag to another, and it shouldn’t disrupt the actual growing process, as long as it’s done right.  The best time to do this is when you first start seeing the development of tendrils, which tells you that the mushroom root structure has established, and hence, is ready to be moved into a new home where the mushrooms can really start to spread their wings, so to speak.  Pretty much any stage before you see those small white tendrils, and you’re at more of a risk of upsetting the mushroom mycelium by placing it into a new environment.  

Note: Even if you’re using the same substrate when doing the transfer before this stage, it can throw off the whole cultivation process, and leave you with some majorly unhappy mushrooms that may or may not survive.

However, if you do end up moving to a new bag when the mycelium is nicely developed, you should be just fine – in fact, it may be essential to relocate, as the mycelium is getting too big to survive inside the bag you’ve been using, if it’s too small.  

So, what’s the process like?  Gentle, for one thing.  You want to be super, super careful and slow while transferring mushrooms from one bag to another, because the mycelium is very fragile at this stage, and very sensitive to change.  So, if you can, cut a slit at the bottom of the bag while holding the new one open, and gently allow the substrate and mushrooms to slide into the new bag, as undisturbed as possible.  Remember, if your mushrooms have outgrown their current bag, then you’ll want to make sure you have a bigger one ready to go.

Now, what about when the mushrooms are actually fruiting – is that an okay time to move them to a new bag?  The answer is yes, but again, you’ll want to do this carefully.  When mushrooms are fruiting, all of their energy is going into this process, as it’s very labor-intensive for them, so relocating them can temporarily slow down fruiting until the mushrooms get acquainted with their new home.  However, at this stage, they are mature enough to generally bounce back without any real longstanding issues.

What About Moving Mushrooms into a Different Kind of Container?

As a quick side note, we want to mention that all of the above information applies to moving your mushrooms from a bag to any type of container – not just a new bag.  So, if you, say, want to relocate your colonized mushrooms to a larger bin, that’s just as acceptable, and you’ll follow the same steps as above, only adding more substrate to the bin beforehand if the size difference is a lot greater.

So, is Transferring Shrooms Advisable: It All Depends 

At the end of the day, you can move your psychedelic mushrooms from one bag to another, but it all depends on when you plan on doing it, and if there’s actually a need to in the first place.  Fortunately, most mushroom varieties are quite forgiving, and as long as you handle the process with care, it will go smoothly.

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