Bristle Berry

Bristle Berry is the edible fruit produced by the Bristle Blossom plant. Each domesticated harvest yields 1600 kcal of Bristle Berry per plant and can be eaten directly or processed in several cooking stations. Bristle Berry appears in wild patches across certain biomes and can be cultivated in Planter Boxes, Farm Tiles, or Hydroponic Farms; a wild Bristle Blossom takes 24 cycles to mature, while a domesticated plant matures in 6 cycles. The plant requires light, an atmosphere of Oxygen, Polluted Oxygen, or Carbon Dioxide, air pressure between 150 g and 10 kg, and a temperature range of 5–30 °C (41–87 °F).

Bristle Berry is a basic food ingredient with multiple recipes. The Microbe Musher converts it into Berry Sludge; the Electric Grill cooks it into Gristle Berry; the Juicer produces a drink from it that grants morale and strength bonuses. Gristle Berry requires 1600 kcal of Bristle Berry to produce 2000 kcal of finished food. Berry Sludge also consumes 1600 kcal of Bristle Berry and yields 4000 kcal when combined with required secondary ingredients. More advanced recipes (such as Stuffed Berry) use Gristle Berry as an input and deliver higher-quality, higher-calorie meals.

Cultivation and variants affect yield and resource efficiency. Domesticated Bristle Blossoms use 20 kg water per cycle in a Hydroponic Farm and yield 1600 kcal per plant (≈ 266.67 kcal/cycle/plant). Some mutation variants increase or decrease production, change irrigation needs, require specific light levels, or alter growth cycles; for example, the Bountiful variant produces 3200 kcal but requires 400 lux and more water. Domesticated plants also have a decor benefit of +15 within a 2-tile radius.

Bristle Blossoms produce Floral Scent germs when fully grown; exposure to Floral Scent reduces stress in normal Duplicants but causes an Allergic Reaction in Duplicants with the Allergies trait. Keep Duplicants with allergies away from Bristle Blossom farms or use access restrictions. Shine Bugs or artificial lighting are necessary for growth because Bristle Blossoms require light; lamps generate heat so plan cooling to avoid overheating the crop.

Acquisition and secondary notes:

• Harvesting or uprooting a Bristle Blossom can yield Bristle Blossom seeds. Eating Bristle Berry has a small chance (5% per unit consumed) to drop a seed.
• Bristle Blossom seeds spawn naturally as buried items in sandstone biomes and can also be obtained from certain rocket missions (e.g., rockets with bio containers returning from Earth-like planets yield seeds).
• Bristle Blossoms are useful as a compost feedstock because they convert pure water into dirt when processed for compost, making them one of the better plants to grow for cyclical dirt production.

Practical numbers for colony planning:

• A single domesticated Bristle Blossom yields 1600 kcal every 6 cycles (≈ 266.67 kcal/cycle). Since a Duplicant requires about 1000 kcal per cycle, plan roughly 3.0 Bristle Blossoms per Duplicant for direct Bristle Berry consumption. Converting Bristle Berry into higher-yield recipes reduces the number of plants required (e.g., Berry Sludge cuts required plants to about 1.5 per Duplicant).