Frequently Asked Questions

Most orders are packed and handed to the carrier within 1–3 business days with many orders going out same or the next day. Larger or wholesale orders (over 100 lb) can take up to 5 business days while we make sure everything is sterilized, sealed, and inspected before it leaves the lab.

You'll receive a tracking number by email as soon as your label is created.

We ship with USPS and UPS. The best option is selected at checkout based on package weight, your delivery address, and current carrier reliability.

If your shipping address is a P.O. Box, please choose a USPS option, UPS cannot deliver to P.O. Boxes.

Yes, orders of $150 or more ship free to all US regions we serve, including Alaska, Hawaii, and supported US territories. The discount is applied automatically at checkout.

Not at this time.

Our spawn and all-in-one bags are surprisingly resilient, but extreme temperatures can stress the mycelium. A few tips:

• Hot weather: if you live somewhere consistently above 90°F, try to be home for delivery so your package isn't sitting on a porch all afternoon.
• Cold weather: bags can briefly tolerate cold, but if your area is below freezing, bring the package inside as soon as it arrives and let it acclimate to room temperature before opening.

If something looks off when it arrives, take photos right away and reach out, we cover it (see the guarantee section below).

First, check around the property, porches, side doors, mailboxes, and with neighbors. Carriers occasionally mark a package delivered a few hours before it actually shows up, so wait 24 hours.

If it's still missing, contact us with your order number and we'll help you open a claim with the carrier and figure out next steps.

Absolutely. If you'd like signature delivery on an order, email us at sales@thatmushroom.com with your order number before it ships and we'll add it. There may be a small carrier fee for orders under $100.

Every bag we ship leaves our lab fully sterilized or freshly pasteurized, sealed, and inspected. If your spawn, substrate, or all-in-one bag arrives contaminated or damaged, we'll send a free replacement.

How to file a claim:

Email sales@thatmushroom.com within 7 days of delivery with your order number and clear photos of the bag, the filter patch, and any visible contamination. We usually respond within one business day.

Because we sell live, perishable biological products, we can't accept returns of spawn bags, all-in-one bags, liquid culture, or agar after delivery. There is no way to verify they haven't been compromised once they've left our hands.

Sealed, unused dry goods (injection ports, accessories) can be returned within 7 days of delivery in original condition. A 20% restocking fee applies to all accepted returns, and the customer pays return shipping. Just email us first so we can authorize the return.

Photograph it before opening anything, the outer box, packing material, and the bag itself. Send those photos with your order number to sales@thatmushroom.com and we'll either replace the affected items free of charge or refund them. Even if the bag still looks viable, a punctured filter compromises sterility and we'd rather replace it than have you fight contamination later.

Our guarantee covers the condition of the product when it reaches you, not the outcome of your grow. Mushroom cultivation involves a lot of variables we can't control once a bag leaves our facility, temperature, humidity, sterile technique, light, fresh air exchange, and the genetics you introduced.

That said, if something seems off, slow colonization, no pinning, weird mycelium behavior, reach out anyway. We'd rather troubleshoot with you than have you give up on the hobby.

Once we approve a refund, it's processed back to your original payment method within 2–3 business days. Depending on your bank, it can take another 3–5 days to appear on your statement.

Fresh is best. Ideally, use your bags within 1–2 weeks of receiving them, that's when moisture levels and mycelium vigor are at their peak.

If you need to wait longer:

• Store at room temperature (65–72°F), out of direct sunlight.
• Fold the top of the bag down so the filter patch is covered, this slows airflow and keeps the bag from drying out.
• For storage longer than 2–3 weeks, refrigerate. Most bags hold up well in the fridge for around 6 months, though peak performance comes from using them sooner.

For our 3 lb. and 5 lb. grain spawn bags, 3–5 cc of liquid culture is plenty. Spreading the inoculation across two or three injection points speeds up colonization noticeably compared to one big shot.

For our 5 lb. Masters Mix all-in-one bag, we recommend inoculating with a fully colonized grain spawn bag rather than liquid culture. Substrate-to-grain ratios matter more than raw cc count once you're at this size.

Most species fully colonize a 3 lb grain bag in 10–21 days at room temperature. Faster species (oysters, dung-loving species) trend toward the lower end; slower or cooler-loving species can stretch closer to 3–4 weeks.

Shaking the bag once it's around 25% colonized helps distribute the mycelium and shaves several days off total time. Don't shake too early, fragile baby mycelium can break and stall.

Healthy mushroom mycelium is bright white, fluffy or rope-like, and smells faintly earthy or like fresh bread. Contamination usually looks and smells obviously different:

• Green, blue-green, or black patches - almost always mold (Trichoderma, Aspergillus, Penicillium). Toss the bag.
• Yellow or orange staining - could be metabolites (often harmless) or bacterial blotch. Watch it; if it spreads or smells sour, discard.
• Wet, slimy patches with a sour or rotten smell - bacterial contamination. Toss the bag.
• Grey or pink fuzzy growth - cobweb mold or other competitors. Toss the bag.

When in doubt, send us a photo and we'll help you diagnose it.

Once your substrate is fully colonized, fruiting comes down to four things:

Temperature: most popular species fruit between 65°F and 72°F. Lion's mane and some oysters prefer the cooler end.

Humidity: 85–95% relative humidity during pinning, easing toward 80–85% during fruit body development.

Fresh air exchange: mushrooms are exhaling CO₂; without air exchange, you'll get long stems and tiny caps. A few fans or hand-misting two to four times daily covers most home setups.

Light: indirect ambient light on a 12-on/12-off schedule is enough. Mushrooms don't photosynthesize, but they use light as a signal for "this is the surface, fruit here."

Yes - most bags will produce two to three flushes, with the first flush typically being the largest. After harvesting, lightly mist the substrate, give it a few days of rest, and conditions permitting, a second flush will pin within 7–14 days.

Yields decrease with each flush as the substrate's nutrients deplete. When the surface starts looking exhausted or contamination shows up, retire the bag and start a fresh one.

The most common culprits, in order:

• Temperature too cold - below 60°F, growth slows dramatically. Move the bag somewhere warmer (top of the fridge, near a router, in a closet with a seedling mat).
• Inoculation point - if you injected and didn't see growth at the injection site within 5–7 days, your culture may be weak. Send us a photo and we'll help.
• Bag was very fresh - sometimes brand-new spawn takes a day or two to "wake up." Patience.

If two weeks have passed with no visible growth at all, that's worth a closer look. Reach out.

Yes - every product page includes detailed instructions, and our blog has full walkthroughs with photos for each bag type. If you'd rather watch than read, video guides are on the way.