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Stardew Valleytakes players into the world of farming and small-town living. Throughout the game, fans will gain access to a myriad of different types of growing, foraging, and crafting to advance their inherited farm. At one point, farmers have the choice between a cave for Fruit Bats or for mushrooms. Check out thisStardew Valleyguide to learn which is the best choice for a playthrough.
To even access this part of the game, players will first need to earn 25,000G. Farmers can do this by selling resources or thebestStardew Valleycrops for making lots of money. Afterward, a villager namedDemetriusappears in the morning to give the option. Essentially, the decision turns the farm’s cave into a haven for bats or a growing operation for mushrooms. While neither of these are game-changers, there are some reasons to stick with one over the other.
Updated on June 16, 2025 by Renri Seong: You may have noticed the empty cave on your farm upon starting aStardew Valleyplaythrough. This cave remains empty until you’ve met a certain requirement, in which you’ll have the choice to turn it into a Mushroom Cave or a Fruit Bat Cave. Both caves farm their respective resources (ie: mushrooms and fruits), but it may be hard to decide which is better. Fruit can only be obtained from fruit trees, whereas different types of mushrooms can be foraged in certain seasons or by exploring the mines. The choice is ultimately up to the player and whichever cave resources they’ll find more useful. If you’re struggling to make the choice, you might want to read up on the pros and cons of both cave options. The following guide has been revamped to include information for the Farm Cave in theStardew Valley1.6 update.
How to Unlock the Farm Cave
How to Make 25000g Quickly
While you may already know that you unlock the Farm Cave features fromDemetrius, you’ll probably be wonderinghowto unlock it. To unlock the Farm Cave, you’ll need to have amassed a total of25000g. This doesn’t mean you need 25000g in your wallet; you just need to make 25000g total.
There isn’t an in-game achievement that will alert you when you’ve made 25k. However, thereistheGreenhornachievement, which you’ll get by making 15000g. you may use this as an indicator of how close you are to the 25000g goal.
If you meet the requirements, Demetrius willvisit you the following morning, asking if he can use the Farm Cave on your property. You’ll then be prompted to choose frommushroomsorfruit bats.
If you’re having trouble making the 25000g, then here are some pointers:
Once you make your decision,you can’t change it. If you chose fruit bats but want to change to mushrooms halfway into your playthrough, you won’t have the option to do so.
Fruit Bats Cave
How Often Does Fruit Spawn?
The Fruit Bat cave is highly recommended if you’re trying to complete the Pantry bundle at the Community Center in time for winter. TheArtisan Bundlerequires six items, but you can choose from animal products (ex: Cheese, Goat Cheese, Truffle Oil) or fruits. This means you can technically complete the Artisan Bundle byproviding one of each fruit.
Fruit bats will also harvest fruit from every season, meaning you can get an Apple (a fall fruit/tree) in winter, spring, or summer. Although the fruit you get from the bats israndomized, you won’t have to worry about waiting 28 in-game days just for a fruit tree sapling to grow.
you may get the following fruits from the fruit bat cave:
Thedownsideto the fruit bats option isyou won’t always get the fruit you want. You also want to keep the cave floor empty, as the chance of fruit spawning is affected by how much space is available. There’s a chance of fruit spawningevery nightand a 48% chance ofno fruit spawning. Finally, the fruit bats tend to lose their usefulness once you have enough to buy fruit tree saplings.
In short, if you’re going the Community Center route, you should choosefruit batsto complete the Artisan Bundle without having to waste money on fruit tree seeds.
Mushrooms Cave (Farm)
How Often Do Mushrooms Spawn?
The mushroom option will set up six crates that will harvest a mushroomevery other day. you’re able to get the following mushrooms from the farm cave:
Mushrooms aren’t as rare as fruit, but you’re likely to get more mushrooms than you would fruit from the fruit bats. However,mushrooms are required to make the Life Elixir drink, which fully restores your HP when consumed.
Another reason you may want to choose the mushroom cave is for theDehydrator. In 1.6, choosing the mushroom cave will also give you a freedehydrator, whereas the fruit bat cave comes with nothing. This machine is extremely useful for drying fruits or mushrooms, which can be sold or given to the raccoons in Cindersap Forest.
The downside to the mushroom cave option is that there are many and easier ways to farm mushrooms than waiting on your Farm Cave. Red and Purple Mushrooms can be collected from the Mushroom Floors in the mines, Chanterelle and Morels can beforaged from the Secret Woodsin fall and spring respectively, and the Common Mushroom is a fall foraging item.
Ginger Island Mushroom Cave
FromStardew Valley1.5, you’ll be able to visit Ginger Island after completing the Community Center or the Joja Community Development Plan. Once you gather enough Golden Walnuts on Ginger Island to repair the bridge to theDig Site, you’ll unlock a new cave that spawns mushrooms after freeing Professor Snail (requires a bomb).
You could potentially end up withtwomushroom caves if you chose the mushroom option for your farm cave. If you want to avoid redundancy, choose thefruit batsfor the farm since you’ll geta mushroom cave on Ginger Island.
