Fertilizer

See also: Crop Growth Calendars

Fertilizer is used to support crop and tree growth, assisting farming. There are three types of crop fertilizer, affecting respectively crop quality, speed growth and water retention. There is only one tree fertilizer type, affecting growth speed. A fertilizer is used by placing it on tilled soil or the desired tree. Some crop fertilizers must be placed before the planted seed sprouts, the other fertilizers can be used at any time during plant growth. Each crop fertilizer type has three tiers, and the tree fertilizer has only one tier. Crop fertilizers affect all crops, including crops grown from Wild Seeds.

Mechanics

All fertilizer can be crafted. Recipes for first tier fertilizers are learned once the required level of Farming or Foraging skill is reached. Second tier recipes are learned once the required level of Farming skill is reached. Third tier recipes are purchased on Ginger Island. First and second tier crop fertilizers can also be purchased at Pierre's General Store year-round, or at The Oasis on specific days of the week.

Only one type of fertilizer may be used per soil tile. Fertilizer remains in the soil all season. When the season changes, fertilizer normally disappears. However, there are two exceptions in which fertilizer will remain in the soil:

  • If a multi-season crop (i.e., Ancient Fruit, Coffee Bean, Corn, Sunflower, or Wheat) is planted in the fertilized tile, and the new season is one in which the crop grows, the fertilizer will remain.
  • Fertilizer placed in the Greenhouse will remain in the soil unless it is un-tilled by a pickaxe.

Note that crop quality is determined at harvest time and not at planting time. Prior to 1.5, fertilizer used in the Greenhouse on crops which would mature out of their normal growing season might disappear before harvest and have no effect.

Speed gro affects only the growth and first harvest of a multi-harvest crop. Quality fertilizers (Basic Fertilizer, Quality Fertilizer, and Deluxe Fertilizer) affect all harvests of a multi-harvest crop.

Removing a crop with a Tool like the axe does not remove the fertilizer. A second hit with a tool, such as a Pickaxe is required to remove the fertilizer and make the tile fallow.

Types of Fertilizer

Image Name Description When to Use Pierre's Oasis Sell Price Ingredients # Produced per Craft Recipe Source
Basic Fertilizer Improves soil quality a little, increasing your chance to grow quality crops. Mix into tilled soil. Before the seed sprouts data-sort-value="100"> 100g
(Spring 15, Year 1+)
data-sort-value="2"> 2g   Sap (2) 1   Farming Level 1
Quality Fertilizer Improves soil quality, increasing your chance to grow quality crops. Mix into tilled soil. Before the seed sprouts data-sort-value="150"> 150g
(Year 2+)
data-sort-value="10"> 10g   Sap (4)  Fish (1) 2   Farming Level 9
Deluxe Fertilizer Greatly improves soil quality, increasing your chance to grow quality crops. Mix into tilled soil. Before or after planting data-sort-value="70"> 70g   Iridium Bar (1)   Sap (40) 5 Qi's Walnut Room for   Qi Gem (20)
Basic Retaining Soil This soil has a chance of staying watered overnight. Mix into tilled soil. Before or after planting data-sort-value="100"> 100g
(Spring 15, Year 1+)
data-sort-value="4"> 4g   Stone (2) 1   Farming Level 4
Quality Retaining Soil This soil has a good chance of staying watered overnight. Mix into tilled soil. Before or after planting data-sort-value="150"> 150g data-sort-value="200"> 200g
(Saturday only)
data-sort-value="5"> 5g   Stone (3)  Clay (1) 2   Farming Level 7
Deluxe Retaining Soil This soil has a 100% chance of staying watered overnight. Mix into tilled soil. Before or after planting data-sort-value="30"> 30g   Stone (5)  Fiber (3)  Clay (1) 1   Island Trader for   Cinder Shard (50)
Speed-Gro Stimulates leaf production. Guaranteed to increase growth rate by at least 10%. Mix into tilled soil.
Note: Does not reduce time between harvests for multi-harvest crops.
Before or after planting data-sort-value="100"> 100g
(Spring 15, Year 1+)
data-sort-value="20"> 20g   Pine Tar (1)  Moss (5) 5   Farming Level 3
Deluxe Speed-Gro Stimulates leaf production. Guaranteed to increase growth rate by at least 25%. Mix into tilled soil.
Note: Does not reduce time between harvests for multi-harvest crops.
Before or after planting data-sort-value="150"> 150g
(Year 2+)
data-sort-value="80"> 80g
(Thursday only)
data-sort-value="40"> 40g   Oak Resin (1)  Bone Fragment (5) 5   Farming Level 8
Hyper Speed-Gro Greatly stimulates leaf production. Guaranteed to increase growth rate by at least 33%. Mix into tilled soil.
Note: Does not reduce time between harvests for multi-harvest crops.
Before or after planting data-sort-value="70"> 70g   Radioactive Ore (1)  Bone Fragment (3)  Solar Essence (1) 1 Qi's Walnut Room for   Qi Gem (30)
Tree Fertilizer Sprinkle on a wild tree to ensure rapid growth, even in winter. Doesn't work on fruit trees. After planting on tree seeds and saplings N/A data-sort-value="10"> 10g   Fiber (5)  Stone (5) 1   Foraging Level 7

Crop Quality Ratios

Note that quality is determined at the time of harvest, and not at the time of planting. For crops that produce multiples at harvest (i.e., Coffee Bean, Blueberry, Cranberries), Basic, Quality, and Deluxe fertilizers affect only the first crop produced.

For the complete formula, please see Farming.

Normal soil

Farming level % Regular quality % Silver quality % Gold quality Average price
0 97% 2% 1% 1.01
1 91% 6% 3% 1.03
2 85% 10% 5% 1.05
3 80% 13% 7% 1.07
4 75% 16% 9% 1.09
5 69% 20% 11% 1.10
6 64% 23% 13% 1.12
7 60% 25% 15% 1.14
8 55% 28% 17% 1.16
9 50% 31% 19% 1.17
10 46% 33% 21% 1.19
11 42% 35% 23% 1.20
12 38% 37% 25% 1.22
13 34% 39% 27% 1.23
14 30% 41% 29% 1.25

Soil with Basic Fertilizer

Farming level % Regular quality % Silver quality % Gold quality Average price
0 88% 8% 4% 1.04
1 77% 15% 8% 1.08
2 68% 20% 12% 1.11
3 59% 26% 15% 1.14
4 50% 31% 19% 1.17
5 42% 35% 23% 1.20
6 35% 39% 26% 1.23
7 28% 42% 30% 1.25
8 22% 44% 34% 1.28
9 16% 47% 37% 1.30
10 15% 44% 41% 1.32
11 14% 41% 45% 1.33
12 13% 39% 48% 1.34
13 12% 36% 52% 1.35
14 11% 33% 56% 1.36

Soil with Quality Fertilizer

Farming level % Regular quality % Silver quality % Gold quality Average price
0 78% 14% 8% 1.07
1 64% 23% 13% 1.12
2 52% 30% 18% 1.17
3 40% 36% 24% 1.21
4 30% 41% 29% 1.25
5 21% 45% 34% 1.28
6 15% 45% 40% 1.31
7 14% 41% 45% 1.33
8 13% 37% 50% 1.34
9 11% 33% 56% 1.36
10 10% 29% 61% 1.38
11 9% 25% 66% 1.39
12 7% 21% 72% 1.41
13 6% 17% 77% 1.43
14 4% 13% 82% 1.44

Soil with Deluxe Fertilizer

Normal quality crops cannot be produced when using Deluxe Fertilizer.

Farming level % Silver quality % Gold quality % Iridium Quality Average price
0 84% 10% 6% 1.32
1 75% 16% 9% 1.36
2 66% 22% 13% 1.40
3 57% 27% 16% 1.44
4 49% 31% 20% 1.47
5 42% 35% 23% 1.51
6 35% 39% 27% 1.55
7 28% 42% 30% 1.58
8 22% 45% 34% 1.61
9 16% 47% 37% 1.64
10 11% 48% 41% 1.67
11 7% 49% 44% 1.70
12 3% 50% 47% 1.73
13 0% 49% 51% 1.76
14 0% 46% 55% 1.77

Appearance

Once used on tilled soil, each type of fertilizer has a unique appearance, allowing you to see what type of fertilizer has been used on a given tile.

Name Unwatered Watered

Basic Fertilizer
   

Quality Fertilizer
   

Deluxe Fertilizer
   

Basic Retaining Soil
   

Quality Retaining Soil
   

Deluxe Retaining Soil
   

Speed-Gro
   

Deluxe Speed-Gro
   

Hyper Speed-Gro
   

Fertilizer Cost

Article Stub

This article is marked as a stub for the following reason:

  • Needs to be updated for v1.6
See also: When to turn fish into Quality Fertilizer

With the exception of Quality Fertilizer, crafting Fertilizer is always cheaper than purchasing it.

Each time you craft Speed-Gro or Deluxe Speed-Gro, you receive 5 fertilizers. Each time you craft Quality Retaining Soil, you receive 2 fertilizers, though crafting just one would still be cheaper than purchasing it.

The tables below compare the cost of crafting Speed-Gro or Deluxe Speed-Gro against purchasing them at the Oasis or Pierre's. The cost of crafting is the sell price of the constituent ingredients.

Cost for 5   Speed-Gro

  Clam Quality Crafting   Pierre's
No
Profession
Normal data-sort-value="150"> 150g data-sort-value="500"> 500g
  Silver data-sort-value="162"> 162g
  Gold data-sort-value="175"> 175g
  Iridium data-sort-value="200"> 200g
  Tapper
Profession
Normal data-sort-value="175"> 175g
  Silver data-sort-value="187"> 187g
  Gold data-sort-value="200"> 200g
  Iridium data-sort-value="225"> 225g

Cost for 5   Deluxe Speed-Gro

  Coral Quality Crafting   Oasis   Pierre's
No
Profession
Normal data-sort-value="230"> 230g data-sort-value="400"> 400g data-sort-value="750"> 750g
  Silver data-sort-value="250"> 250g
  Gold data-sort-value="270"> 270g
  Iridium data-sort-value="310"> 310g
  Tapper
Profession
Normal data-sort-value="267"> 267g
  Silver data-sort-value="287"> 287g
  Gold data-sort-value="307"> 307g
  Iridium data-sort-value="347"> 347g

Note: Technically it is not possible to find iridium quality clam/coral if you have chosen the Tapper Profession.

History

  • 1.4: The number of items per craft now shows in the crafting menu before items are in inventory. Speed-Gro and Deluxe Speed-Gro now have an effect if used after planting.
  • 1.5: Added tier three fertilizers. Fertilizer placed in the Greenhouse now lasts until manually removed.
  • 1.6: Crafting recipes changed for Quality Fertilizer, Speed-Gro, and Deluxe Speed-Gro.