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🌾 Farming Guide
🌱 Three Staple Crops — Picking the Right One Is Half the Battle
| 🌾 Rice | 🌽 Corn | 🥔 Potatoes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growth Time | ~3–5.5 days (fastest) | ~20.9 days (slowest) | ~10.7 days (medium) |
| Yield/Harvest | Low | Highest (22/plant) | Medium |
| Soil Sensitivity | High—thrives in rich soil | High—best in rich soil | Low—works in poor soil |
| Hydroponics? | ✅ Best hydro crop | ❌ Not allowed | ✅ But inefficient |
| Labor | High (frequent harvests) | Lowest (plant & forget) | Medium |
| Shelf Life | ~2 seasons | ~3 seasons (longest) | ~1 season (shortest) |
| Best For | Early game, emergencies, hydroponics, skill training | Mid/late staple crop, stockpiling | Deserts, gravel, chemfuel production |
🗺️ Soil Types — Why Your Crops Grow Slowly
| Soil | Fertility | Best Crop |
|---|---|---|
| Rich Soil | 140% | Corn or Rice |
| Normal Soil | 100% | Corn (least labor) |
| Stony Soil | 70% | Potatoes |
| Gravel | 70% | Potatoes ( demolishes other crops here) |
| Hydroponics | 280% | Rice |
💡 Tiles per colonist formula: ~20 tiles of rice in normal soil. Rich soil ÷1.4 ≈ 14 tiles. Hydroponics ÷2.8 ≈ 7 tiles. Overproduce by ~20% for safety.
💧 Hydroponics
- Sun lamp draws 2,900W: Daytime only. 2 solar panels per lamp, no battery—perfect synchronization
- Solar flares are fine: Rice in hydroponics harvests every ~2 days. A 12-hour flare won't kill anything
- Only 4 crops allowed: Rice, potatoes, strawberries, nutrifungus. No corn, no haygrass
- Rice is king in hydro: Fastest growth fully exploits the 280% boost. Strawberries are backup—edible raw with no mood penalty
🏠 Greenhouse Design — Year-Round Growing
Wall in rich soil → roof it → sun lamp + temperature control → permanent indoor farm. Immune to seasons, toxic fallout, and cold snaps.
- Find rich soil, enclose ~13×13 internal area
- Sun lamp in center (radius 11 tiles)
- Heater (winter) or cooler (heat wave), keep 10–42°C
- No hydroponics basins needed—grow directly in rich soil under a roof. Cheapest indoor farm
📋 Quick Decision Guide
| Situation | Best Crop |
|---|---|
| Need food NOW | Rice |
| Rich soil available | Corn (low labor) or Rice (fast returns) |
| Only gravel/desert | Potatoes |
| Hydroponics indoor farm | Rice |
| Few growers | Corn (plant once, harvest once) |
| Winter approaching, need stockpile | Corn (longest shelf life) |
| Making chemfuel | Potatoes (best yield/labor balance) |
| Training grower skill | Rice (frequent cycles = fast XP) |
⚠️ Common Farming Mistakes
- Planting too much to harvest: 30×30 rice with 3 colonists = most rots in the field. Match field size to labor
- No roof for winter: Crops die below freezing. Build greenhouses or harvest before winter
- Blight: Spreads fast. Manually cut ONLY infected plants—don't cut healthy ones
- Hydroponics power failure: Solar flares = fine. Dead batteries + no sun lamp = dead plants. Maintain power redundancy
- Building over rich soil: Rich soil is non-renewable. Never pave or build on it—save it for farming
- Unprotected outdoor fields: Raiders burn crops. Keep fields behind defenses or walled in