Guide:Farming
Here are the main points from this guide:
- collect wild crops
- soil at least medium fertility
- moisture at least 75%
- protect from rabbits
- check temperature and nutrient needs
- don't replant a crop in the same block
Collect
Some people recommend harvesting all wild crops you come across, even if they're not ripe yet. I recommend focusing on just a few crops your first year: flax, one other grain for food, and one vegetable.
| File:Trough.png | Protip:
Flax satisfies your hunger half as much as other grains do, so I use it for things other than meals. But flax ''fibers'' are ultra-useful. |
Why? 1) I don't have much space in my inventory or containers yet, 2) I don't have much fertile soil yet, 3) I'd prefer to harvest crops when they're guaranteed to yield seeds as well as food, 4) animals don't destroy wild crops, 5) fewer crop types simplifies crop rotation (more on that later). Which crops are best? My main concern is temperature tolerance, so I can harvest enough to feed me through the winter.
| File:Bowl.png | Protip:
Eating a balanced diet increases your total hitpoints. |
If you're starting in a temperate climate, I recommend focusing on flax, rye, and parsnips. If you're starting in a warm climate, I recommend focusing on flax, spelt, and onions. If you're lucky enough to find cabbage seeds (only from cracked vessels and traders) or peanuts, I recommend planting those, too. Pumpkins have unique needs, which I'll address in a separate tutorial, Once I have chests and leather backpacks, I do harvest immature crops that are far from my base. If they're near my base, I just mark the location on my map and check occasionally whether they're ripe.
Soil
There are 5 types of soil in terms of growth speed: barren, low fertility, medium fertility, high fertility, and "Terra preta" (Portuguese for "black earth"). The main difference between these soil types is the base nutrient level. For example, flax crops consume nutrient K (potassium), after which low fertility soil will slowly return to 25% K, while high fertility soil will slowly return to 65% K. The current nutrient level has a huge impact on a crop's growth rate. A low level of nutrients can halt a crop’s progress, because a crop consumes nutrients each time it advances a stage, and nutrients regenerate slowly, so a block can quickly become depleted of a particular nutrient. You can use fertilizer but some types are harder to acquire than others.
Medium fertility soil is fairly common, and you should never have to use low fertility soil for crops. The higher growth rate of medium fertility soil will make up for the time spent to find it, and it will regenerate to 50 nutrient points over and over.
High fertility soil is found by exploring the world. It can generate in areas where rain is "Common" or "Very Common." From above, grassy high fertility soil looks just like any other soil. While you're exploring, keep an eye out for nearly-black soil that might be exposed by uneven terrain. If you do find some, carefully examine the surrounding soil as there might be more here, covered by grass. If you rely on the Block Info Overlay, consider removing grass so you can more easily aim at the soil beneath.
Terra Preta is obtained by crafting medium fertility soil with compost, charcoal, and bonemeal; using high fertility soil instead doubles the yield.
If the Block Info Overlay is toggled on, pointing your cursor at a block of hoed farmland will reveal important agricultural details.
Takeaway: If you have medium fertility soil, plant your first crop, rather than wait to find high fertility soil or make Terra Preta. If you only have low fertility soil near spawn, explore a bit more and import medium fertilitysoil before planting.
Moisture
Farmland next to water doesn't get 100% moisture unless it's raining. Tilled soil next to water gets 75% moisture. Soil 1 block further from the water gets 50%, soil one more block gets 25%, and beyond that gets 0%. Compare the growth speed of Terra preta at 75% moisture with Terra preta at 25% moisture: Flax should take 18 days to mature, but the crop in this block will mature in 17 days, and sooner if you water it daily or it rains; you could get flax in just 15 days. The crop in this drier block will grow just 64% of the standard growth rate, so will mature after 28.2 days…! Alert: Growth times are calculated based on the number of days in a month. Changing the length of a month
Note
Growth times are calculated based on the number of days in a month. Changing the length of a month will change the total growth time in days proportionally.
To use a watering can, briefly hold rightclick over a block of water. If you were to place the can on the ground now, it would say 100% Full. Hold rightclick over crops to water them. When the watering can is empty, you’ll receive a message about placing the can. When you intend to place the can, hold Shift and rightclick on the ground.
| File:Watering can.png | Protip:
Watering one block to 100% moisture will have some effect on nearby blocks, so you should observe that they’re higher than normal even before you water them. So, a brief pass with the watering can over a section of crops is enough to reach 100% moisture on every block. |
What is the most effective layout for maximum moisture and yield?
I surround a block of water with 8 blocks of farmland, so each farmland gets at least 75% moisture all the time even when it doesn’t rain. Here I’ve alternated medium fertility soil with Terra Preta, to help you visualize the spacing despite the walls I plan to build above this compact soil (and water).
The wiki says a greenhouse can be at most 7x7x7. With a few doors, I’ll have 4 adjacent greenhouses. Each will have 45 blocks of useful farmland.
You could make shapes other than a big square, and you don’t need to add glass roofs to all your fields. But I recommend sticking with this pattern of water every 2 blocks, even if it means having water under a wall.
Until you have a copper saw, you won’t be able to make a bucket and so can’t place water precisely where you want it. You could build your first garden around a pond or jutting into a lake.
Wherever you choose, be aware that once you’ve used a hoe on a block of soil, you’ll be unable to recover it; if broken, it will simply disappear.
With a mod titled Farmland Drops Soil, you can recover farmland IF you wait until the nutrient levels have returned to their original values.
Protect
Hares will be attracted to your crops, and can quickly destroy them. At least destroyed crops usually drop a seed. As of version 1.19.8, sheep and pigs don’t damage crops, and hares aren’t interested in wild crops. The cheapest way to effectively protect your crops is to dig a trench around your farmland, at least 3 blocks deep with a ladder halfway up the inside. However, it’s possible for hares to hop onto the top of your ladder and then onto your farmland, unless you block off access. An alternative is to build a dirt wall around your crops, at least 2 blocks high. Add a ladder on the inside and outside for yourself, and make sure there’s noplace at which there’s a step of just 1 block, which hares could use to get inside. While they bounce erratically when panicked, they don’t seem able to cross a small gap or intentionally jump higher than 1 block. One sort of fence requires a saw to make boards, but there are two other styles that don’t: a “Rough-hewn fence” and a “Dry stone fence.” Press H to open the in-game Handbook and search for the recipes. All fences are 1.5 blocks high. A moat is not sufficient protection; hares can swim. You can place fences underwater, and it seems that creatures can’t swim over fences at the water’s surface, even though it looks like they’d be able to. But when water freezes, they can get over sea-level fences.
Needs
Different seed types have different nutrient needs, and different temperature tolerances. All crops stop growing below 0 degrees. Rye can survive freezing temperatures, so can be planted in spring before most other crops. But if nighttime temperatures are still dropping below -12, your rye could become "stunted," meaning that you'll get only half the usual yield when ready to harvest. And if the temperature gets too low a few times, the crops could die. In general, wait until the temperature at 4am is above 0 degrees.
On the flip side, turnips can easily overheat in temperate climates and should not be in a greenhouse until autumn heat has passed. March is supposedly the start of spring, but snow and freezing temperatures could persist. The area you made your base might be mild enough to grow crops year-round if you take into account your area's highs and lows, and select seeds appropriate for the season.
Different plants need different nutrients and will consume them from the soil as they grow. If the required nutrient is at low levels, the plant will grow much more slowly.
Fertilizer is not essential, but it can enable you to harvest more often, by keeping the nutrient levels high.
Pay attention to which nutrient a particular seed needs, and select fertilizer accordingly. Press H to open the in-game Handbook when you need to check which fertilizer boosts which nutrient(s).
Replant
There's a simple strategy to avoid nutrient depletion, so it's alright if you don't have an abundant supply of fertilizer. Assuming that you have one K crop, one N crop, and one P crop, I recommend dividing your planting area into 3 or 4 sections. At first, plant your K crop in section 1. After harvesting, plant it in section 2. Next time, plant it in section 3. By the time you plant the K crop in section 1 again, the level of nutrient K should have mostly recovered, resulting in a decent growth rate. Meanwhile, you could plant an N crop and then a P crop there, while the level of nutrient K slowly recovers.
Different crops have different growth times, and it's not uncommon to harvest one crop while another is still unripe. If you have a 4th section that had nothing planted in it, you'll be able to replant each crop right away in a different field than before.
Pumpkins
Unlike other crops, which grow only on the block they are planted, pumpkins spread out as vines from a central mother plant. Mature pumpkins grow on the vines generated by the mother plant. One full pumpkin will only turn into one seed, so planning is necessary to ensure there are enough pumpkins grown to replant the crop. Vines rarely spread beyond 4 blocks away from the mother plant. If planting seeds in a straight line, leave at least 8 blocks between mother plants. Till one block of soil for each mother plant, and leave the surrounding soil alone. A block of water near the mother plant is helpful. If you cover the top half with a slab of wood or cobblestone, pumpkin vines can grow there.
Fruit trees
Use an axe on the branches of fruit trees you find, to obtain "cuttings." Stick them in the ground near your base; the soil type doesn't matter. No matter what you do, they will have a 60% chance of dying instead of "establishing." No need to wait for certain temperatures to plant cuttings. In winter, a fruit tree will lose its leaves. If it gets cold enough, it will "vernalize" which permits fruiting the following year.
Greenhouse
Flax can tolerate only a little cold, to -5 degrees. A greenhouse provides a 5 degree bonus, so it could be -10 outside and flax inside should be alive, but probably stunted. See Guide:Greenhouse for more detailed guidance.
