Deluxe Retaining Soil

Deluxe Retaining Soil is a fertilizer that keeps soil watered. It can be crafted after purchasing the recipe from the Island Trader for 50 Cinder Shards. It may also be found in stacks of 5–7 in Supply Crates on the Beach Farm, but only if the Farmhouse has been upgraded at least twice.

It can be placed on tilled soil before or after planting a seed, or at any stage of crop growth. If the soil is not already watered, the fertilizer has nothing to retain, so the crop will not grow until the tile is watered once. After that first watering, the soil has a 100% chance to stay watered, guaranteeing that it remains watered until the crop is ready to harvest. This makes it especially useful in places where sprinklers are unavailable or inconvenient, such as Garden Pots and most of the Beach Farm.

The fertilizer remains in effect through repeated harvests for crops that produce multiple items from a single planting. In the Greenhouse, on the Ginger Island Farm, and in Garden Pots placed in buildings, it will stay active until the tile is un-tilled, since seasonal changes do not end the planting’s life there.

Deluxe Retaining Soil has a few niche uses beyond farming:

• It is not used in any bundles.
• It is not used in any quests.
• It can be used in the Sewing Machine spool to create the dyeable High-Waisted Shirt.
• It is not used in dyeing.

Because it removes the need to rewater a tile after the initial watering, Deluxe Retaining Soil is most valuable for crops that are hard to reach, for plots without sprinkler coverage, or for players who want low-maintenance growing areas. Its guaranteed water retention also pairs well with long-duration crops and repeat-harvest crops, since the same tilled tile can stay productive without further attention.