Farming Guide: Plants, Ranching & Ethanol Loops

Farming covers plant cultivation and critter ranching—both are core renewable resource sources (food, fertilizer, materials, gases, and industrial inputs). This page summarizes how to plan farms and ranches, key mechanics, common crop/critters used, and practical setups you’ll build into a functioning base.

Core mechanics common to all farming

• Plants and critters require specific temperature ranges, pressure, and space to grow/behave correctly. Check each species’ temperature and pressure requirements before placing them.
• Agriculture skill (Farmer) improves fertilizer usage and boosts certain production interactions (Farmer's Touch increases Fertilizer Synthesizer coverage by +10% per skill level).
• Seeds: plants produce a 1 kg seed on uproot/killing. Base chance per harvest is 10% for food/industrial plants; +3.3% per level of Agriculture (skill and bonuses). Mutated plants (Spaced Out! DLC) are infertile and require Botanical Analyzer to use their seeds.
• Plant mutations: radiation can mutate seeds at harvest. Chance = (radiation on plant / plant max radiation) * 80% — only needs radiation before harvest.
• Pip planting rules (for natural-tile planting) and Potted plant interactions matter for some exploits (flower pot entombing can let Pips plant at domesticated rate).

Fertilizer and Dirt management

• Fertilizer Synthesizer: a cost-effective way to make Micronutrient Fertilizer. One synthesizer supports about 14.4 plants continuously, increased by +10% per Agriculture level of the farmer applying the Farmer's Touch.
• Each Micronutrient Fertilizer batch consumes resources (per batch time): Dirt, Phosphorite, and Polluted Water. This commonly beats feeding plants extra crop inputs in resource-per-harvest terms.
• Dirt sources: natural Dirt, Compost (converts Polluted Dirt into Dirt 100% efficiently), boiling Polluted Water (small residue), and cooking organic resources above 125 °C (Algae/Slime/Fertilizer → Dirt).
• Use Compost Heaps to turn Polluted Dirt (from Water Sieve or Ethanol Distillers) into usable Dirt for fertilizing Mealwood and other fertilizer-hungry plants.

Plant farming: growth and irrigation basics

• Most industrial/food plants have a life cycle measured in cycles; many produce on a periodic harvest schedule (e.g., Spindly Grubfruit: 1 fruit every 4 cycles — 800 kcal).
• Irrigation: some plants require irrigation (kg/cycle). Hydroponic Farms and Planter Boxes are the usual delivery methods. Liquid valves can regulate flow to match plant consumption and avoid idle water in pipes.
• Growth space: large plants (Arbor Trees, e.g.) require clear 3×3 area for full branch growth and will be stifled by nearby walls/buildings.
• Branch-style trees (Arbor Tree): grow in two stages over cycles; branches produce large lump-sum yields (each branch = 300 kg Lumber). Arbor Trees consume 70 kg Polluted Water and 10 kg Dirt per growth cycle regardless of branch count — so maximize branch count to be efficient (grow 5 branches in 3×3 volume).
• Food value examples:
  • Spindly Grubfruit: 800 kcal per harvest every 4 cycles (200 kcal/cycle). Can be cooked to 1200 kcal (Roast Grubfruit Nut) — 3.33 plants feed one duplicant when cooked.
  • Sleet Wheat: 18 grains per harvest (18-cycle growth) and various recipes yield 400 kcal/plant/cycle depending on recipe choice (Frost Bun, Pepper Bread, Berry Sludge).
  • Mealwood: cheap, low-calorie crop (600 kcal/kg raw, but high fertilizer demand for domesticated variants). Mealwood has a negative decor and large Dirt requirement for domesticated growth.
• Resin-producing trees: resin venting mechanics — trees consume food at 50 g/s except when venting resin; they vent at thresholds (resin accumulates to 5 kg then vents at 1.5 kg/s). Higher kcal-per-kg foods change effective consumption per cycle and increase time spent venting, altering per-cycle consumption and byproduct yield.

Industrial plant setups

• Arbor Tree + Ethanol loop: Arbor Trees produce Lumber that can be converted via Ethanol Distiller → Polluted Dirt + Ethanol + CO2. Arbor Trees require polluted water to be water-neutral; domesticated trees require ~70 kg polluted water per growth cycle (source notes use 7.5 kg/cycle per branch context — always verify per-tree needs in-game). Oakshell ranching can feed into ethanol loops by producing Lumber from molts.
• Resin processing: Liquid Resin must be heated above 125 °C to produce Isoresin (heating produces Steam as a byproduct). Plan heat transfer and isolated heating rooms for resin processing.

Critter ranching fundamentals

• Taming/wildness: critters start at 100% wildness. Wildness drops per cycle when given appropriate tending:
  • Land/flying critters: grooming grants -50% wildness per cycle while groomed.
  • Aquatic critters (Pacu, Jawbo): “Ate From Feeder” gives -20% wildness per cycle.
  • If wildness reaches 0% the critter is tamed; tamed critters remain tamed and their eggs hatch at the parent’s wildness (so tame parents produce tame eggs).
• Stable sizes and overcrowding: most stables require 12 tiles per critter (Puуfts 16), with a max capacity determined by stable size (max 8 non-Pufts or 6 Pufts in a full-size stable). Overcrowding causes the overcrowded debuff which reduces production/reproduction.
• Critter moods affect metabolism and reproduction:
  • Happy (>= +4): normal metabolism, reproduction rate ×10 (very fast).
  • Satisfied: normal reproduction/metabolism.
  • Glum or Miserable: heavy metabolism penalties and reduced or zero reproduction.
• Ranching chores: all rancher-related errands require the Critter Ranching skill (supplying feeders, moving critters, grooming, etc.).

Key critters and ranch strategies

• Hatches: classic early critter. Provide meat on death and eggs during life. Ideal for coal and early meat. Hatches lay up to ~15 eggs during adult life if satisfied. Optimized ranches can produce substantial meat per cycle; plan for replacements as they age.
• Pufts: produce Slime → Algae pathways. One Algae Distiller processes 360 kg Slime/cycle, enough to handle ~7.5 Pufts products. Pufts require Polluted Oxygen; plan oxygen loops or Morbs to supply it.
• Pacu: aquatic critters that, when tamed, lay eggs rapidly and defecate; fed Pacu require algae (7.5 kg algae/cycle per Pacu) or seeds (1 seed/cycle). Pacu eggs and fillets are high-calorie sources; domesticated Pacu can be used to seed Pokeshells or for food production chains. Each Pacu requires 8 liquid tiles to avoid overcrowding.
• Pokeshell variants (Oakshell / Sanishell):
  • Oakshell: raised in Ethanol-rich environment increases Oak Pinch Roe chance; molts can be processed into Lumber (useful where water for Arbor Trees is limited). Oakshells can consume Polluted Dirt, Rot Piles, and Slime and produce less Sand than Sanishells; they are useful in ethanol-arbor loops to produce lumber and help with polluted-water cycles.
  • Sanishell: in Water environments increased chance to lay Sani Pinch Roe; removes germs and converts Slime into Sand very efficiently (50% mass as Sand). On death provides large Raw Shellfish food yield (equivalent of multiple Pacu), making Sanishells excellent food & sanitation critters for aquatic ranches.
• Drecko (Glossy Drecko): with Mealwood diet and specific atmospheres, can be bred to Glossy Drecko to produce Phosphorite and scaled into Plastic production setups (grow Mealwood under oxygen and hydrogen layers to influence variant).
• Shine Bugs / Radiant Bugs: high-decor and free-light producers. Shine Bugs reproduce fast (two eggs every 3 cycles base); feeding phosphorite gives a small chance to progress variant. Radiant/Abyss variants are used for decor or light; radiant bugs produce both decor and light useful in rooms.
  • Reactor-style farms: place a Shine Bug ranch with Window Tiles and Solar Panels below to create an automatic light-driven power source (bugs’ light can power Solar Panels). Careful room design and egg handling needed to maintain population and avoid cramped debuffs.
• Longhair Slickster: consumes oxygen (30 kg/cycle) and provides big decor (+50). Useful to sink excess oxygen and boost decor early when shine bugs are unavailable, but costly in O2.
• Morbs: produce Polluted Oxygen passively (useful as an off-gas source for Pufts and other systems). Stable design influences output—single Morb in an optimal running space can produce higher per-Morb rates than many crammed together; multiple Morbs in same stable produce reduced per-unit rates.
• Shove Voles and other meat-productive critters: some critters are effectively self-sustaining food sources (Shove Voles produce very large meat yields on death and via eggs when groomed/incubated). Incubator/egg management increases throughput.

Specialized loops and examples

• Ethanol loop (Arbor Trees + Ethanol Distiller + Petroleum Generator + Pokeshells):
  • Arbor Trees → Lumber → Ethanol Distiller → Ethanol + Polluted Dirt + CO2. Ethanol can fuel Petroleum Generators and byproduct Polluted Dirt can be composted to Dirt for plants.
  • Oakshells interact with Ethanol-rich environments to increase oak-roe and produce lumber-molts that can supplement the loop. Ethanol Distillers run can supply Polluted Dirt to feed Pokeshells: one Ethanol Distiller output can support nearly three domesticated Pokeshells (per cited rates).
  • Balance tree water consumption and distiller outputs to achieve water-neutral loops; Oakshell contributions reduce required external water.
• Algae → Pacu → Eggs/Food pathway:
  • Pacu require substantial algae if fed (7.5 kg algae per Pacu per cycle). Algae Distillers (produce algae + polluted water) and Puft-produced slime convert into algae chains. Automate feeders and limit stored food to avoid overfeeding and overcrowding.
• Drecko Plastic farm:
  • Use atmospheric stratification (hydrogen above, oxygen below) and Mealwood diet to force Glossy Drecko and collect their excreta to process into Plastic (early energy-efficient plastic production compared to Polymer Press).

Practical build tips and automation

• Use Fish Feeders/Critter Feeders and Critter Drop-Offs to automate feeding and transfer. Moving eggs or critters requires Critter Ranching skill tasks.
• Grooming Station required for tamed land/flying critters to keep them happy/tamed and to reduce wildness. Aquatic critters are tamed via Fish Feeder “Ate From Feeder” status.
• Avoid cramped stables: the cramped debuff reduces egg-laying rates and general output—clear stable designs and periodic egg clearing are necessary for high-throughput breeding critter farms.
• Control atmospheres and germs: some farming outputs bring Slimelung or other germs. Use Chlorine, Deodorizers, or sterilizing critters (Sanishell) where needed. Slimelung dies outside polluted oxygen and extreme temperatures (<20 °C or >90 °C).
• Place heat-producing processing machines (Ethanol Distillers, Algae Distillers) away from living quarters or in sealed rooms because they spit out heat and have low decor.

Efficiency considerations

• Match production method to resource scarcity: Fertilizer Synthesizer often cheaper resource-per-harvest than feeding plants extra ingredients.
• Maximize branch/large-yield plants: Arbor Trees produce a fixed water/dirt cost per cycle irrespective of branch count—grow them with full 5 branches in clear 3×3 space for best resource-per-lumber ratio.
• Critter mood and reproduction: keep critters at least Satisfied or aim for Happy where practical to vastly increase reproduction (Happy increases reproduction ×10). Prevent glum/miserable states which cripple production.
• Use byproducts: many loops create useful byproducts (Polluted Water, Polluted Dirt, Ethanol, CO2) that can be repurposed—design closed or partially closed cycles (e.g., Ethanol → Petroleum → generator → polluted water → compost → dirt → fertilizer).

This overview gives the building blocks for most farming and ranching goals: food, fertilizer, industrial inputs (lumber, plastic, resin, dirt, sand), and decor/light. For any plant or critter you plan to specialize in, check its precise temperature, pressure, irrigation/fertilizer requirements, and egg/molt yields to size stables and automation accurately.