Coey, as long as it's a wee little spike you shouldn't have any trouble at all. Just don't knock it off while replanting the phal. I would say the earlier in it's development the better. I would up the watering a bit after you repot. Old bark retains a lot more water than new bark so you may stress the phal if you don't make sure it's getting the same amount of water that it was so happy with before the repotting. And then check it every couple of days until you establish it's new water requirements. Start the repotting by soaking the new bark for at least 30 min and at most 24 hours before you're ready for it. That will insure that it's good and moist. Also, chances are that you won't need a bigger pot so just repot with new bark in the same pot. But it wouldn't hurt to have one size bigger on hand just in case you get in there and it's root bound.

I asked my mother-in-law for her mushroom soup recipe that she makes for Christmas. It is delicious. However, it uses a variety of wild mushrooms and makes a lot. I wonder if I could make with my cremimis. I will cut it in half. Taste would be different. But how bad could it be? Even though it's summer, I still like soup.8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, room temperature2 cups sliced celery1 cup sliced shallots1 chopped leek or small onion3 garlic cloves, minced3 cups sliced stemmed fresh shiitake mushrooms (about 6 ounces) 3 cups sliced crimini mushrooms (about 6 ounces) 3 cups sliced oyster mushrooms (about 4½ ounces) 1 oz dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted in 2 cup boiling water½ cup dry white wine1 cup dry Sherry ½ cup all purpose flour8 cups homemade chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth½ cup whipping cream Melt 6 tablespoons butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add celery, shallots, onion and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Strain the porcini mushroom using a fine sieve. Reserve the liquid. Chop porcini mushroom and add all mushrooms and sauté until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add white wine and Sherry. Boil until liquid is reduced to glaze, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle mushrooms with 1/4 cup flour stir until mixture coats vegetables. Cook for 1-2 minutes to cook out the flour taste. Gradually mix in stock and porcini liquid. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until mushrooms are tender, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in blender or processor until smooth. Return soup to pot (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium-low heat before serving.) add cream and simmer. DO NOT BOIL. Adjusting seasoning and ladle soup into bowls and serve

Yes, was growing along the side of my lilac hedge in the back yard. Guessing 6" tall, pretty incredible imo. Hope more come in the future. Hunting for morels can be challenging. And you need the right weather. At least around here. We always had the best picking right at the time when the poplar trees were breaking bud and showing some greenish hue at the tops. And you needed a nice rain with nights above mid 50's df . That doesn't happen every year. Even then, you had to search out the areas that you know from experience grows them. Semi low ground, poplar trees etc around here. We covered a lot of acres some years and some years of course were better than others. They only lasted a few days then sort of disappear again. Different areas and soils can be different types of morels and timing.

Heh, I use tinned condensed soups sometimes. Sometimes I make my own. It can depend on the dish and what I feel like cooking at the time. Sometimes depends on what i have on hand at the time. If you want and have a lot of mushrooms, you can do a duxelles to freeze off in portions to finish off with your thickening and liquid agents later. You can sort of skip a step in the OP's process if you cook the mushrooms on low till they become self-retained and straight flour toast the mix before adding your liquid. Instead of making a separate roux and adding it to the mix. Kick-ups to cream of celery are be sure to use the leaves and ribs. Add in minced fresh parsley stems and also leaves. Use leeks instead of shallots. Add some celery seed if you can. Lovage and celeriac are good to use if you can get them. For intensity in onion and meat soups- caramelize you onions, take time to reduce your stock and make demiglace. And food safety of Maw-Maw's Chicken- yes, since it's a short marinade time in the fridge, and also cooked along with the meat to safe eating (temp check your sauce if you need to). Boneless pork chops or loins work well for this recipe too. Growing up it was Mom's pork chops in mushroom gravy :) If you feeling beefy, use beef tips, loins, medallions..., and instead of 1c buttermilk, use 1/2 c red wine and 1/2 cup beef stock, omit the hot sauce, but add a bit of mustard. Finish it off with a nice bit of sour cream to the liquid after baking if you are so inclined, and serve over noodles for a nice stroganoff. bbstx's OP mushroom soup base is a rather good one. The use of bacon grease as the browning agent for the chicken is spot on- great flavor.