Guides:Farming With Tritus
By Tritus
See farming for a more general overview.
Farming can be a difficult skill to start, in the sense that getting your hands on the seeds as a new player can be extremely time consuming. But, since most people build their first house with at least some surrounding land fenced off...
Forage and botanise a few times every time you log on. Every time you get a seed, plant it in the grounds of your house.
Notes:
- To prepare the ground for planting you may need to Flatten and then cultivate it.
- Initially you should start with an easier crop such as corn, cotton, potato, or wemp. Otherwise you may get zero skill gain.
- Onion and garlic definitely give zero skill gain with up to 22 in farming. They give some skill gain near 30.
Once you have sown your seeds, you want to farm the tile at least once every real day.
You will raise your skill more quickly if you farm more often, although once every 6 hours is about the most often you will be able to.
Your crops should begin to ripen about 3-5 days after you planted them but this is not precise. Each tile will grow at a different rate and if you sow 10 seeds at the same time then those ten tiles may ripen individually at different times over 3-5 days.
You will rarely lose a harvest if you harvest at the same time every day. Crops that are ripe can often, though not always, still be properly harvested at the same time the following day.
Your crops will be ripe when the top of the crop (when groomed) is exactly level with the top of a small barrel placed in the tile.
Your crops need to be harvested within about 24 hours of becoming ripe. If you harvest too early or too late you will get reduced yield. If you are only getting one potato, or whatever, anyway then you will get nothing from early or late harvesting.
At higher skill levels you should be able to harvest early or late without losing all of your crop.
After you harvest you should sow one seed right back into the tile.
You get almost no skill for sowing. You get most skill from farming and maybe a good deal less than that for harvesting.
Your best bet is to assume that you will not be making any real crop gain from your farming until your skill is at 15. In other words, up to that point all your farming will be very much sowing one seed to get one seed back.
With a 50-tile farm you will get roughly 1 point of farming per day if you tend your fields twice a day at 10 hour intervals. Takes about 20 mins to tend 50 tiles with a 10 QL rake. As your skill level improves yield increases from 1 through 3 and 4 to 6.
Tip:: If possible always sow, farm, and harvest at the same time just before you go to sleep. That way, if you can check again first thing after you wake up, you should almost never lose any crop.
Alternatively, do all your farming immediately after you login, at the same time every day.
Basic farming cycle
- Sow
- Farm (at least once per day. Every time the field requires it preferred...)
- Harvest (when your crop is level with the top of a small barrel)
- Sow (always replant at least one seed from your harvest)
Yield borders (approximate)
| Crop | Yield 1-3 | Yield 3-4 | Yield 4-6 | Yield 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potato | [10] 15 | [15] 30 | [46] 60 | [60] |
| Cotton | [10] 15 | [15] 30 | [46] 60 | [60] |
| Rye | [10] 15 | [15] 30 | [46] 60 | [60] |
| Oat | [10] 15 | [15] 30 | [46] 60 | [60] |
| Wemp | [10] 15 | [20] 30 | [46] 60 | [60] |
| Wheat | [15] 20 | [20] 30 | [46] 60 | [60] |
| Pumpkin | [15] 20 | [20] 30 | [46] 60 | [60] |
| Corn | [18] 20 | [20] 30 | [50] 60 | [60] |
| Garlic | [18] 20 | [20] 30 | [50] 60 | [60] |
| Onion | [18] 20 | [20] 30 | [50] 60 | [60] |
| Barley | [18] 20 | [20] 30 | [50] 60 | [60] |
- Numbers in brackets indicate the earliest that I got a yield of that amount.
- Earliest I started getting any more than four was at 46 farming skill.
- Constant yield of 6 appears to be at 60 for all crops.
Sneaky tips
- Use the lowest QL rake you can.
- If possible have Circle of Cunning cast on your rake.
- Farm your entire crop first before harvesting to ensure the highest farming skill at time of harvest.
- It's best to farm at least two times before harvesting to ensure the most yield.
- The act of farming can be compared to treating a [medium wound. (Any time the field requires the act of farming, weeds are keeping the field from producing more harvestable items.)
- Planted crops are by far the best source of food for farm animals. Just be certain you have enough from your harvests to replant as cattle will eat them until there is nothing but dirt if there are more than one animal per tile. (The act of farming the field will increase crop production therefore sustaining cattle more effectively, which will reduce the chances of cattle turning the tile to dirt.)
- If you harvest a crop tile, you will always recieve the expected amount even with animals grazing on crop tiles (their grazing doesn't reduce the amount harvested).
