Seed

Seed is an item used to grow plants in Astroneer. Seeds are placed directly on the ground and then activated to begin growing after a short delay. Once the plant has matured, it can be harvested for additional seeds, making them part of the basic loop for propagating flora and collecting useful plant materials.

There are two broad kinds of seeds: defensive flora seeds and mutant offensive flora seeds. Defensive flora seeds grow plants that retain their usual dangerous behavior, while mutant seeds transform offensive flora into decorative versions that no longer damage the player. The mutant category includes several offensive plant types, such as mutated versions of Enredsiseo, Globum, Cataplanta, Atactus, and Escupiflor. Defensive flora seeds include plants such as Explocoral, Raízdaga, Enredasaltos, Laticardo, Resueleza, Espilirio, and Latihoja.

To use a Seed, place it on the ground and hold the Use or interaction key to plant it. After a short time, it grows into a mature plant that can then be dug up or harvested. In practice, the harvesting method depends on the plant type: defensive plants and Raízdaga must be dug out from their roots, while mutant and harmless plants can be collected simply by interacting with them. A Proximity Repeater can also be used to automate collection. Non-mutant plants typically drop 1–2 seeds when harvested, while mutant plants always drop 2 seeds, and mutant Balloons can drop 2–3.

Seeds left on the ground will disappear after a while if they are neither planted nor stored, so they should be used or picked up promptly. This makes them a renewable but temporary resource rather than a stable loose item.