Quality Fertilizer

Quality Fertilizer is a fertilizer that improves the chance for crops to grow with higher quality. It can be crafted after reaching Farming Level 9, obtained from a Bone Mill, purchased from Stone’s General Store beginning in Year 2, or sometimes found in Mystery Boxes and Golden Mystery Boxes. It may also appear in the Traveling Cart in any year, and 30 units are awarded for completing one bundle. It sells for 10g, and crafting it produces 2 Quality Fertilizer per use from 1 fish.

Quality Fertilizer must be placed on tilled soil before the seed sprouts. Once a crop has started growing, it will no longer benefit from the fertilizer. Like other fertilizers, it only affects the crop’s basic harvest, so extra produce from multi-harvest crops such as Coffee Beans, Blueberries, and Cranberries will still be normal quality.

Because it is made from any fish, Quality Fertilizer is often a convenient way to convert low-value catches into farming support. The fish used matters for efficiency, since some fish are better sold directly or processed into fertilizer depending on their quality and sell price. In practice, the fertilizer is most useful when you want to maximize the value of a crop that will be harvested at least once, especially when planting expensive or high-profit crops early enough to benefit from the quality bonus.

A few practical notes:

• It must be applied before planting or before the seed has sprouted; late application does nothing.
• It affects only the first or basic harvest of a crop, not bonus produce from repeated harvests.
• It can be a strong use for fish that are otherwise less valuable to keep as food or sale items.
• Since it can come from Bone Mills and boxes, players may obtain it without crafting.
• It is also usable in tailoring and dyeing: it can create the dyeable High-Waisted Shirt in the Sewing Machine and serves as orange dye in the dye pots at Emily’s and Haley’s house.

Quality Fertilizer is not used in any quests.