Farming

For the comprehensive table of seeds care costs and times see Seed Table

Introduction


Farming is a member's skill in which players grow crops for profit or use in other skills. Crops can grow slowly or very rapidly, and can be harvested for produce. Farming begins at potatoes, and eventually the famed Spirit Tree can be grown.

The player starts out by obtaining seeds, which are then planted in one of several farming patches across Runescape. After growing for a period of time, crops can be harvested, assuming that the crop has not died along the way. Crops grow even though players are not online, this means a player can plant a seed and come back at any time. Once the crops are fully grown, they stay there until harvested. This means that farming is a skill which requires little attention, as players can plant, walk away, and then harvest their crop later on. Farming was released on 11 July 2005.

Tools
The tools required for farming may be purchased at Farming shops or from the Grand Exchange.

Planting and Harvesting Tools
The following equipment and tools can by held by Tool leprechauns.


 * Farming rake - for removing weeds.
 * Seed dibber - to plant any seed except trees.
 * Watering can - to water vegetables, flowers, and hops as well as tree seedlings.
 * All-purpose spade - for harvesting or clearing patches. Used to remove dead plants.
 * Gardening trowel - for filling a plant pot with soil and putting a tree seed into a plant pot.
 * Secateurs - for pruning diseased trees or removing Willow branches.
 * After Fairytale I - Growing Pains quest, they can be upgraded to Magic secateurs, when wielded increases yields by 10% from allotments, herb and hop patches.
 * Empty buckets
 * Normal Compost
 * Supercompost
 * Scarecrows

Tool leprechauns
Tool Leprechauns will store many of the tools that players use for Farming, including 31 empty buckets, 255 buckets of compost, 255 buckets of supercompost, and one of each other tool. However, they will not store seeds, crops, or plant cures. Tool leprechauns are found near each patch, giving access to the player's tools. The leprechaun on Troll Stronghold also sells an assortment of farming-related items.

Note: The Tool Leprechaun does not accept noted items but will convert harvested crops into banknotes.

Additional tools

 * Plant pots - for planting tree seeds. When watered, the seedling grows into a sapling which can then be planted in a wood or fruit tree patch.
 * Woodcutting axe - for chopping a wood or fruit tree down before it can be dug up to plant another tree on same patch.
 * Sacks - fill with 10 vegetables to pay nearby gardeners to watch a crop, purchasable from a farm shop.
 * Baskets - fill with 5 fruit to pay nearby gardeners to watch a crop, purchasable from a farm shop.
 * Plant cure - for curing any crop (except trees) of disease.

Note: Gardening boots - no function, strictly decorative.

Farming patches
Farming patches are scattered all around RuneScape. Specific categories of seeds can only be planted into a corresponding patch.

Preparing the patch
Clear the patch of weeds by using a rake and then add compost or supercompost as it lowers the chance of the crops being diseased as well as yielding more harvest when the crops are fully grown. Each of these actions grants minor experience. The weeds can be added to a compost bin to yield compost.

Allotments
Allotments give fast experience for low level farming. Allotment seeds are planted in a allotment patch by using 3 seeds on any patch with a seed dibber in the player's inventory. Allotments need to be watered frequently until ready to be harvested. Harvesting yields between 3 and 56 allotments and is done with a spade in the player's inventory. After a patch has been harvested, it will become cleared which will require the patch to be re-planted. Allotments are susceptible to disease and need to be protected using the methods in the subsequent section, keeping the crops alive.

Flowers
Fully grown flowers have the ability to protect some allotments from disease and eliminates the need to water the allotment during its growing cycle. Flower seeds are planted in a flower patch by using 1 flower seed on the patch with a seed dibber in the player's inventory. Flowers need to be watered during its growing cycle. You do not need to care for the flowers after they are fully grown, so you may want to leave them in their patches to further protect growing allotments. Generally, flowers are not harvested but would yield only 1 flower if done so (exception: see below). For more information on protecting your allotments with flowers, read the section on keeping the crops alive below.

Note: You will receive 3 Limpwurt roots and 3 Woad leaves when their respective plants are harvested.

Hops
Hops can be used to make different types of beers and ales with the Cooking skill. Hop seeds are planted in a hops patch by using 4 hop seeds (only 3 Jute seeds) on the patch with a seed dibber in the player's inventory and needs to be watered during its growing cycle. Harvesting yields between 3 and 29 hops and is done with a spade in the player's inventory. After a hops patch has been harvested, it will become cleared which will require the patch to be re-planted. For more information on protecting your hops, read the section on keeping the crops alive below.

Note: Hops are not protected by flowers.

Herbs


Herbs are grown in conjunction with training the Herblore skill as primary ingredients for potions. Herb seeds are planted in a herb patch by using 1 Herb seed on the patch with a seed dibber in the player's inventory. Herbs do not need to be watered. Harvesting yields between 3 and 20 grimy herbs and is done with a spade in the player's inventory. As with allotments, herbs are susceptible to disease and need to be protected using the methods in the subsequent section, keeping the crops alive. There is an herb patch in Trollheim that will never get diseased which can be accessed after completion of My Arm's Big Adventure.

Note: Herbs do not need watering and are not protected by flowers.

Bushes
Bush seeds are planted in a Bush patch by using 1 Bush seed on the patch with a seed dibber in the player's inventory. When it is done growing, check the health of the bush before harvesting. Harvesting of berries is done by hand and yields 4 berries. Unlike other types of plants, bushes will continue to produce even after their first harvest. To remove a bush, simply use a spade to dig it up after it has been harvested.

Most of the experience gained in the Farming skill is from checking on the bush's health, not in planting it or harvesting its berries.

Note: Bushes do not need watering.

Wood trees and fruit trees
Growing wood trees and fruit trees are somewhat different to other plants, in that there is an intermediate growing stage where the seed must be grown into a sapling before being planted into a cleared patch. First, an empty plant pot may be used on any farming patch, even if something is growing in it, with a gardening trowel in the player's inventory to fill the plant pot with soil. Use a single seed on a filled plant pot with the gardening trowel still in the player's inventory and water it with a watering can. At this point, the seed has grown into seedling. After a few minutes, the seedling will grow into a sapling which can then be planted in a cleared patch. In order to do this, the player must have a spade in their inventory. Add compost or supercompost to the cleared patch before transplanting the sapling. Seedlings and saplings are unable to become diseased while growing in a plant pot. However, once a sapling is planted in a patch, it can become diseased and needs to be protected using the methods in the section, keeping the crops alive. Seedlings and saplings are not tradable.

Like bushes, most of the experience gained in the Farming skill is from checking on the wood tree/fruit tree's health, not in planting it, chopping it down, or harvesting its fruit.

Note: Saplings, wood trees, and fruit trees do not need watering.

Wood trees
Planting wood trees will result in your own personal wood tree to cut down. These trees work exactly like other wood trees across Runescape in that the required Woodcutting level is needed to chop it down, giving experience in that skill. There is one difference, however: the beaver familiar's multichop scroll cannot be used on these types of trees. Once the tree is chopped down, a stump is left. At this point, the stump can be left to respawn into a wood tree or use a spade to remove it which will yield a few tree roots. The tree roots can be used as an ingredient for supercompost. The greatest way to gain experience in Farming with wood trees is to check its health.

Note: Players can pay gardeners to cut down their tree. Costs vary depending on the tree. Players will receive only experience when gardeners do this.

Fruit trees
Like bushes, fruit trees do not require any tools for harvesting. Picking the fruit will yield 6 fruits that will regenerate after a short time. Again, most of the experience is gained from checking the fruit tree's health, and not in harvesting its fruits.

Special plants
The main difference between all other plants and special plants is that they each have their own unique patches located through out Runescape. Each special plant only needs one seed to begin growing in its patch.

Keeping the crops alive
After the player first plants a crop, it will go through several growth cycles before it is fully grown. At the end of each of those growth cycles, there is a chance that the crop will become diseased. If no action is taken to counter-act the disease before the end of the next growth cycle, the crop will die. Your farming level has no effect on the chance of your crops becoming diseased.

Disease prevention


Many techniques can be used to avoid the death of some crops, and to greatly reduce the risk of death for other crops. Depending on the situation, it may be worthwhile to use the techniques below. Note: Gardeners can be paid with noted items. Note: Allotments being protected by fully grown flowers or a scarecrow, do not need to be watered.
 * Pay a gardener to watch over the crop. The cost varies and is shown in the Seed Table. It is recommended to do this for expensive seeds such as trees and fruit trees.
 * Certain allotments can be protected by certain fully grown flowers (see the Seed Table). When the protecting flower is fully grown, it may be left to protect numerous plantings of the protected item.
 * Compost and supercompost both reduce the chance that a crop will become diseased, with supercompost being superior. They also increase the yield while harvesting the crops. If the player isn't paying a gardener to watch their crops or using flowers on their allotments, supercompost is recommended.
 * Watering the patch with a watering can will stop a crop from becoming diseased at the end of the current growing cycle only. Only allotment and flower patches can be watered in this manner.

Disease cures

 * All crops except trees and bushes can be cured of disease by using a bottle of plant cure on the crop. Plant cure can be bought from the gardener at each patch or a farming shop.
 * Diseased trees and bushes can be cured by pruning with secateurs or magic secateurs.
 * An alternative to buying plant cure is to use the Lunar Magics spell, Cure Plant.

Harvesting
Players can harvest grown crops by clicking on the patch when it is fully grown. Harvesting of allotments, flowers, and hops requires a spade in the player's inventory. Fruit trees and bushes do not require any type of tools; they are picked by hand. If your inventory becomes full while harvesting, the Tool leprechaun will note them. This is accomplished by using the harvest on the Tool leprechaun. Wielding Magic secateurs will increase the amount you can harvest from your allotment, herb, and hops. Only willow branches are harvested in the wood tree family. Otherwise, a wood tree is cut down to obtain logs and dug up to obtain roots.

Note: Harvesting of bushes and fruit trees requires multiple clicks to pick the berries or fruit. Harvesting of allotments, flowers, hops, and herbs only requires clicking once.

Check the health
Once a bush, tree, or fruit tree is fully grown, most of the experience gained in the farming skill is from checking on its health. This is performed prior to harvesting. Checking on the health is done by either right clicking on the bush/tree/fruit tree and selecting "Check the health" option or simply by left clicking on it. This can only be performed once in its growing cycle.

Note: Respawing of a tree after chopping it down will not give the option to have its health checked on nor after a bush or fruit tree has been harvested.

Temporary boosts

 * A cider will boost farming by 1, this is brewed using the Cooking skill.
 * A Mature cider will boost farming by 2, this is brewed using the Cooking skill (does not stack with normal cider.)
 * A Garden pie will boost farming by 3, this is made using the Cooking skill (does not work when using a brown spicy stew).
 * A brown spicy stew has a chance of boosting or lowering farming by 2, 4, or 6 (available as a result of the Evil Dave sub quest of Recipe for Disaster.) (Will not stack with familiar boost)
 * A Dreadfowl will boost farming by 1 (this bonus does not apply when using a brown spicy stew).
 * A Compost mound will boost farming by 1 + 2% of the players farming level.
 * A Stranger plant will boost farming by 1 + 4% of the players farming level.
 * A Giant ent will increase the yield of certain crops.
 * A Wolpertinger will double the yield and experience from harvesting berries.*

It is worth noting that if players do not have the required farming level when they harvest a crop, they will not receive experience. Thus, if a player plans to harvest a crop they do not have the required farming level for, they should re-boost their stats.

Training
See Farming training

Minor experience
In addition to experience shown in the seed table, minor experience can be gained by doing the following farming tasks :

NOTE: If players wish to stay at just one allotment and grow their plants there, they can use a Compost Mound familiar and its Generate compost scroll to fill the bin with Compost (or, if they are lucky, supercompost), fill 15 buckets with Supercompost/compost, empty them, and repeat. This will grant you 67.5 experience per load with compost, and 130 experience with supercompost.
 * Filling a bucket with compost from the compost bin - 4.5 experience
 * Filling a bucket with supercompost from the compost bin - 8.5 experience
 * Putting compost on a patch - 18 experience
 * Putting supercompost on a patch - 26 experience
 * Taking rotten tomatoes from the Compost Bin - 4.5 experience
 * Weeding a patch with a rake - 4 experience per weed
 * After a Willow tree becomes fully grown it can be pruned with secateurs to get 6 of its branches

Note: It cannot be pruned immediately after its health has been checked on.

Farming cape
Once players reach 99 Farming, they can purchase a farming cape from Martin the Master Gardener, located in the Marketplace of Draynor Village.

Amulet of nature
The amulet of nature may be bound to a particular patch and will remain bound until it is attached to another patch. Players may either rub the amulet to find out how their crops are doing, or wear it and it will tell players of any changes to their crops. If the crops become diseased, it will allow the player to teleport to the patch, or speak to the gardener from anywhere, in order to get them to protect it. The amulet will also slightly increase the yield of crops, though not by as much as the Magic secateurs (the bonus does not stack with the secateurs).

To make one, players will need to spin a magic root on a spinning wheel, make a normal emerald amulet using the crafting skill and string it with the magic string. After enchanting the Pre-nature amulet with the Enchant Level 2 Jewellery spell, players will be able to use it with a patch to watch the progress of that patch. Players may only obtain one amulet of nature, and they are non-tradable, though all the ingredients are tradable, as is the un-enchanted pre-nature amulet.

Amulet of farming
The Amulet of farming can be bought from a farming shop for 200 coins. They are a very limited version of the amulet of nature, as they only have 8 charges, and can only be used to watch over an allotments or flower patches.

Magic secateurs
Magic secateurs are a reward for completing the Fairytale I - Growing Pains quest. When wielded, the magic secateurs increase yields by 10% when harvesting vegetables, herbs and hops. This effect does not stack with the Amulet of nature. They can be used to prune trees to cure them of disease as with normal secateurs and can also be stored with the Tool Leprechaun.

Supercompost potion (Compost potion)
Compost potions can be obtained after the Garden of Tranquility quest and the Vinesweeper minigame. It is wise to use it on the compost bin instead of a bucket of compost to yield 15 buckets of supercompost rather than using it on 1 bucket and receiving 1 bucket of supercompost.

Random events
Due to a recent update, the following list may be out of date.
 * Spade head - When using a spade for farming, the head will sometimes fly off.
 * Rake head - When using a rake for farming, the head will sometimes fly off.
 * Capt' Arnav - Captain Arnav will sometimes appear wanting help opening a treasure chest buried in the patch.
 * Farming patch spirit - The Farming patch spirit is an event in which the only thing that happens is that a dialogue window appears. It only occurs when a player with less than level 15 Farming stands idly next to a farming patch for a period of time.

Familiars related to Farming
Some familiars that appear in the Summoning skill are also useful in the Farming skill.

Trivia

 * Farming is one of only three skills not used in Stealing Creation, the others being Slayer and Firemaking.
 * For a few weeks before the Farming skill was released in late June and early July 2005, all herb seeds were simply named 'herb seeds' and different types of seeds would form different stacks in players' inventories and banks. When the skill was released, the seeds were automatically identified.
 * When filling up your buckets with regular compost, you will get 15 buckets full with each load.
 * When looking at the farming stats section, you can click the fruit/vegetable and it will tell you how much you need to pay the local gardener to watch your crops.