Dirt

Dirt is a common organic element used widely as a construction material, fertilizer, and crafting ingredient. It appears naturally in surface biomes such as the Temperate Biome and Forest Biome and can be produced or recycled from many organic processes. Dirt is required for Planter Boxes, Farm Tiles, and Algae Terrariums, and is consumed by several machines and buildings for recipes and operations.

Dirt is used as fertilizer for domesticated crops; typical per-cycle consumption values are: Mealwood 10 kg/cycle, Sleet Wheat 5 kg/cycle, Nosh Sprout 5 kg/cycle, Oxyfern 4 kg/cycle, and Arbor Tree 10 kg/cycle. Fertilizer Synthesizers convert resources into Fertilizer using Dirt: 39 g/s Polluted Water + 65 g/s Dirt + 26 g/s Phosphorite → 120 g/s Fertilizer + 10 g/s Natural Gas. Research Stations use Dirt for basic research at a rate of 50 kg Dirt per basic research point. Microbe Mushers can cook Mush Bars from Dirt and Water using the recipe 75 kg Dirt + 75 kg Water = 800 kcal Mush Bar. Outhouses consume 13 kg Dirt per visit and produce 19.7 kg Polluted Dirt.

Production and recycling pathways for Dirt include composting, heating, processing, critter inputs, and space POIs. Composting converts Polluted Dirt and other compostables into Dirt at 100% efficiency but requires duplicant operation and generates waste heat. Boiling Polluted Water into steam leaves small amounts of Dirt equal to 1% of the boiled mass; in high-temperature environments that small mass can change into sand or glass natural tiles. The Water Sieve produces Polluted Dirt as a byproduct at 4% of filtered water mass, which can then be composted into Dirt. Some organic materials (Slime, Algae, Fertilizer) convert into Dirt when heated above 125°C. An Ethanol Distiller converts 33.3% of the mass of input Lumber to Polluted Dirt, which composts to Dirt; each domesticated Arbor Tree can produce up to 333.33 kg/cycle of Lumber, enabling production of up to 111.11 kg/cycle Dirt per Arbor tree before accounting for the tree’s own Dirt consumption. A Pip consumes a percentage of plant growth to produce Dirt: it consumes 9% growth of Arbor Trees and 20% growth of Thimble Reeds per cycle, producing 20 kg Dirt per cycle; a wild Arbor Tree can support up to three domesticated Pips for 60 kg Dirt per cycle. Mud and similar organic sludge can be converted to Dirt and Water with a Sludge Press or heated into Dirt and Steam. Organic Mass Fields on rocket missions yield Dirt at rates between 162–486 kg per cycle at certain Space POIs.

Interactions with critters and production chains: Hatches and Sage Hatches eat Dirt and excrete Coal; Sage Hatches convert 100% of consumed mass to Coal. Shove Voles can eat Dirt and excrete Dirt tiles with 50% mass retention. Apothecaries produce Allergy Medication from 1 Blossom Seed + 1 kg Dirt → 1 unit Allergy Medication.

Practical notes and strategy:

• Use Composting to close Dirt loops from Polluted Dirt and byproducts rather than relying solely on mined surface Dirt.
• Fertilizer Synthesizer recipes are mass-flow balanced; ensure steady inputs of Polluted Water and Phosphorite if scaling Fertilizer production.
• When using Algae Terrariums, note that using Dirt as the mass lowers the overheat temperature by 10°C (use caution in warm setups).
• Domesticated Arbor Trees are a high-throughput source of Lumber and, via Ethanol Distillers and composting, substantial Dirt — factor their own fertilizer consumption (10 kg/cycle) into net yield calculations.
• For food production, Microbe Mushers provide dense calories from bulk Dirt and Water, useful when traditional crops are limited.