Gardening
Gardening is a non-Skill based activity that any character can try. It allows you to grow many different types of decorative Plants, some of which even produce valuable resources.
Though Potions that can only be brewed via Alchemy are required, these can often be purchased from vendors owned by other players.
Contents
Beginning
The first step towards the mastery of botany involves finding some Seeds and a Plant Bowl. The bowl needs to be filled with dirt; there are two ways you can go about doing this.
For the casual gardener, it's best to simply locate a farmer's field (such as those that produce Cotton or Wheat) and use the bowl on the ground there.
Another way is to collect forty units of Fertile Dirt to fill the bowl with. While it can take some time to collect, the use of this enhanced soil will speed the rate at which your plants are able to grow.
With the bowl filled, it must next be watered. Two applications from a Pitcher of Water will be enough to take the dirt from "hard" to "soft". Be careful not to pour any more, or the dirt will become "squishy"!
The next step is to plant a Seed in the bowl. When this is done, it's fully prepared: You can now lock it down in your House, or place it in your bank box (plants will not grow in other places).
Growth Checks
Every night a growing plant will take a "growth check" and advance a stage, but only if it's been in a valid growing location (eg. locked down in a house) for at least 24 hours.
Plants begin at stage one. When they reach stage seven, their true form becomes revealed. They can then pollinate and then be pollinated by other plants.
Plants will not advance beyond stage nine, though at this stage some will start to produce Seeds and other plant resources.
Unhealthy plants do not advance stages. Seeds planted in Fertile Dirt have a chance of advancing two stages in a single night. The current growth stage is written in the top left corner of the plant's display window, revealed by double clicking on it.
Plant Maintenance
Double clicking on a growing plant will reveal a display relating to the plants age and health. Ideally, your foliage will remain "vibrant" throughout it's life time, but if you fail to mantain your plants they will drop in health with each growth check until they ultimately wither and die.
The five icons on the right hand side of the plant display reveal what needs to be done in order to keep your plants healthy. You may apply potions from vials or Potion Kegs you are carrying in your pack by clicking their respective icons within the plant GUMP.
Infestation
- Occurs randomly. If there is a yellow cross next to this, apply one Greater Poison potion; if red, apply two.
Fungus
- Occurs randomly. If there is a yellow cross next to this, apply one Greater Cure potion; if red, apply two.
Poison
- Occurs due to excessive poison potion applications. If there is a yellow cross next to this, apply one Greater Heal (not Cure!) potion; if red, apply two.
Disease
- Occurs due to excessive cure potion applications. If there is a yellow cross next to this, apply one Greater Heal potion; if red, apply two.
Also apply up to two Greater Heal potions if a plant's health display reads as anything less then "healthy". Greater Strength potions may optionally be applied to reduce the rate at which a plant is affected by problems.
Finally, take care to keep the soil "soft" by applying Pitchers of Water as need be. Depending on how many plants you wish to maintain at once, you might find the Water Trough house add-on to be invaluable.
Plant Breeding
When a plant reaches the seventh stage, it becomes capable of pollinating. Click the plant Reproduction icon (
) in order to display the resource GUMP.
Clicking the Pollination (
) icon will then give you a targeting cursor with which to apply pollen to another plant. Assuming that plant is also at the seventh stage it will become fertilised, and capable of producing new seeds after the ninth stage of growth.
Plants may be used to pollinate themselves. Seeds grown by such plants will be titled according to the name of the parent. If a plant has not been pollinated by the time it reaches the ninth stage, it will automatically pollinate itself.
Plants grown from Mutant or Bonsai seeds can not pollinate or be pollinated.
Need some notes on crossbreeding.
Growing Plant Seeds/Resources
Certain plants are capable of producing more Seeds, as well as other resources. They will produce one seed and resource for every growth check after reaching the ninth stage, to a maximum of eight each. Note that only a few plants produce resources, and some do not even produce seeds.
Seeds/resources are extracted by clicking the appropriate icons in the plant resource GUMP.
Seeds
- Click to extract a seed from the plant. The amount of seeds available/remaining to be grown is displayed next to this icon.
Resources
- Click to extract a resource from the plant. The amount of resources available/remaining to be grown is displayed next to this icon.
Once a plant has provided it's maximum produce of seeds and resources, there is no point in maintaining it further.
Decorative Plants
Once a plant reaches it's ninth stage of growth, you may set it to "decorative" mode by clicking the icon (
) in the plant resource GUMP.
Once a plant is decorative, you may no longer bring up the display window, extract seeds/resources, or otherwise interact with it: On the other hand, it will no longer require maintenance. It becomes a simple item for display in your house, or perhaps for sale to other players.