Scott Kimberly Posted October 30, 2020 Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 I am reading through the handbook and wiki and it seems like most fertilizers aren't really that good at restoring nutrients, aside from K plants Bonemeal is N:3, P:30, K:0 Postash is N: 0, P:0, K:60 Saltpeter is N:13, P:0, K: 44 I also read that farmland regenerates nutrients over time. Since fertilizer is either rare, inefficient, or both, compared to how much food you actually need to survive, is it better to just rotate crops into different farm plots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwind Posted October 30, 2020 Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 Yeah, crop rotation is the name of the game. Besides, be happy that K fertilizer is the most useful, because the only plant worth fertilizing (flax on medium farmland) requires K. All other crops are barely required. I run like... 4 blocks of cabbage on terra preta, and I cannot eat all of that output. At least, not while taking care to evenly eat from all four food groups. Flax, though, produces fibers, and that you need in huge amounts. Plus you can feed the excess grain to livestock, which covers your protein needs. So now I have five 4x4 plots of terra preta, and I fill one of it up with 16 flax. Let it grow, harvest, fill up the next one. While one plot grows, the other four sit fallow - or rather, have those 4 blocks of cabbage sprinkled in somewhere. Four cabbage on 64 available spaces, because as a single player you just don't need more. Those five plots are just enough to regenerate the K nutrient to maximum through a full rotation, without a need for fertilizer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Kimberly Posted October 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 that was my next question, how long does that take to rotate through. Which you very nicely answered! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwind Posted October 30, 2020 Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 Four plots will also do, if you're limited in how much terra preta you have. It'll be right at the edge of not quite regenerating it, and the difference won't really be that noticeable. Other crops have different growth speeds and nutrient costs, though, so what I described is only valid for flax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Kimberly Posted October 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 You can probably extrapolate that out for the others, since we know all the variables. I have a ridiculous abundance of terra preta. So much that it might be viable to just run through a farm and replace it all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukotto82 Posted November 1, 2020 Report Share Posted November 1, 2020 On 10/30/2020 at 2:11 PM, Streetwind said: Yeah, crop rotation is the name of the game. Besides, be happy that K fertilizer is the most useful, because the only plant worth fertilizing (flax on medium farmland) requires K. All other crops are barely required. I run like... 4 blocks of cabbage on terra preta, and I cannot eat all of that output. At least, not while taking care to evenly eat from all four food groups. Flax, though, produces fibers, and that you need in huge amounts. Plus you can feed the excess grain to livestock, which covers your protein needs. So now I have five 4x4 plots of terra preta, and I fill one of it up with 16 flax. Let it grow, harvest, fill up the next one. While one plot grows, the other four sit fallow - or rather, have those 4 blocks of cabbage sprinkled in somewhere. Four cabbage on 64 available spaces, because as a single player you just don't need more. Those five plots are just enough to regenerate the K nutrient to maximum through a full rotation, without a need for fertilizer. maybe things have changed since this post but last I played my farmland is 21 x 7 and I've planted all 3 nutrient groups in all plots and they still haven't regenerated enough to replant they are just laying fallow for now and I have no idea how long it will take them to finally be ready and I play on 30 day months so winters going to be long. I have 3 9x9 cellars made of cobblestone with 5 air blocks between floor and ceiling with shelves on all walls and a few tables to store sealed crocks of cooked food but I'm hoping for at least another full rotation of crops before winter hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Kimberly Posted November 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2020 4 hours ago, Sukotto82 said: maybe things have changed since this post but last I played my farmland is 21 x 7 and I've planted all 3 nutrient groups in all plots and they still haven't regenerated enough to replant they are just laying fallow for now and I have no idea how long it will take them to finally be ready and I play on 30 day months so winters going to be long. I have 3 9x9 cellars made of cobblestone with 5 air blocks between floor and ceiling with shelves on all walls and a few tables to store sealed crocks of cooked food but I'm hoping for at least another full rotation of crops before winter hits. Honestly, I am dumping a lot of resources into see if you need one set of fields for every 10 nutrient consumed (per the wiki). Based on Streetwind's tip, I have 5 flax fields (one with crops, 4 fallow) and I have 2 parsnips fields. Going to see if the parsnips can just go back and forth and recover enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxwell Ellington Posted November 3, 2020 Report Share Posted November 3, 2020 My field didnt regenerate either, but I'm wondering if letting the grass grow over it affected it? Sort of like weeds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwind Posted November 3, 2020 Report Share Posted November 3, 2020 From what I observed, nutrients regenerated just fine as long as there was no plant currently consuming that nutrient. For example, after planting flax, the K nutrient would be depleted; but it would regenerate just fine over time even while other crops were planted that were consuming N or P nutrients. I didn't have grass on it for extended periods of time, as I'm happily cutting it off on a daily basis to use it as animal feed. How long did you wait? It's not unusual for it to take 10-15 ingame days to regenerate, depending on how much nutrient was missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxwell Ellington Posted November 3, 2020 Report Share Posted November 3, 2020 All winter, but I'm not sure what the default month is set to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redram Posted November 3, 2020 Report Share Posted November 3, 2020 4 hours ago, Maxwell Ellington said: All winter, but I'm not sure what the default month is set to. It was 12 days per month in 1.13, iirc. I believe in 1.14 it is reduced to 9 per month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxwell Ellington Posted November 3, 2020 Report Share Posted November 3, 2020 (edited) It was 12 days then. But I havent heard anyone say that grass affects farmland for sure so I guess I just left my nutrients super low. Edited November 3, 2020 by Maxwell Ellington Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Kimberly Posted November 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2020 I can comfortably report that if you make 3 fields for parsnips (2 fallow, one planted) the 1st field you planted in will be fully restored by the time you have to use it again. Honestly its juuuust shy of being fully restored just alternating 2 fields, but over a long time itll deplete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryRob Posted November 6, 2020 Report Share Posted November 6, 2020 What would be neat is if some plants added nutrients, while others took them. At the same time, there is an element of RNG so that if you don't get the right seeds, you may be screwed. So maybe a good work around is poop? have animals poop, pick it up with a shovel, and have a system where it is turned into fertilizer? That would make getting animals more beneficial. As it stands you should get them asap just for steady leather and meat, as well as cheese in the future. So having a poop system where you have to clean the cages to restore nutrients to the farms would add value and realism. It would also help in finding animals, as they would leave a poop trail out in the wild. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic8dGamer710 Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 On 11/5/2020 at 4:07 PM, AngryRob said: What would be neat is if some plants added nutrients, while others took them. At the same time, there is an element of RNG so that if you don't get the right seeds, you may be screwed. So maybe a good work around is poop? have animals poop, pick it up with a shovel, and have a system where it is turned into fertilizer? That would make getting animals more beneficial. As it stands you should get them asap just for steady leather and meat, as well as cheese in the future. So having a poop system where you have to clean the cages to restore nutrients to the farms would add value and realism. It would also help in finding animals, as they would leave a poop trail out in the wild. Would also be neat to have a companion planting mechanic Happened to notice Hypnotique reacted to your post, and I've been watching her videos lately, small world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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