Raised Planting Bed

[Zentetsuken]

In an attempt to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, I bring you the idea of raised planting beds.

bird 1. farming in caves

WHY?

- should be possible for some crops
- it's been talked about by devs a few times
- potted plants can grow underground

bird 2. some form of over-winter farming should be viable

WHY?

- some crops shouldn't die in winter
- raised beds prolong planting season IRL
- potted plants can grow in winter


Generally, the concept would be that we make dynamically sized structures that we can plant crops in, the structure itself (and/or the fuel you add in it) can even aim to softcap the product to balance the overall benefit it would give to the player.



The idea is that we would be able to click-and-drag the build much like a fence, it would be a 2xX structure so both sides would be reachable for harvest.
Likely built with boards, glue, blocks and a buttload of dirt. After that you should need to keep the bed watered and filled with compost. If either run out, a timer starts and if it reaches the end the plants go fallow.

I think even the average hermit could aim to benefit from something like this by first winter, and it would definitely be a way to extend the larp underground and keep some cave crops running over winter at lower qualities for animal food or something even for bigger villages. The structure and/or fuel softcapping the crop would likely put them behind the quality of other plants over time, but perhaps this would be a fair cost for being able to grow in winter/caves. This could potentially also lead to specialized cave cultivars (think endives) in the future.

[Massa]

This idea is cool.

But if you want to do underground farming, we'll need semi-costly lighting fixtures made of cavebulbs.

These could have a particular effect on certain plants, namely hemp and opium, specifically the latter, enabling significantly raised yields of pods much sooner, with little to no actual yield of poppy flowers or other yields. This is semi-logical. That way, we can have underground grow-ops.

[Barbamaus]

I like the idea of farming in caves, but...

the structure itself (and/or the fuel you add in it) can even aim to softcap the product to balance the overall benefit it would give to the player.

After that you should need to keep the bed watered and filled with compost. If either run out, a timer starts and if it reaches the end the plants go fallow.

The structure and/or fuel softcapping the crop would likely put them behind the quality of other plants over time, but perhaps this would be a fair cost for being able to grow in winter/caves.

...I don't see the benefits you're talking about.
Pros & Cons:
[Pro] You can farm in caves
[Pro???] You can farm for 4 IRL more days over the year, assuming this will work like gardening and not like trees/bushes in caves (which lose seeds just like they do outside)
[Con] You have to build a structure to farm just a few crops
[Con] The structure quality softcaps the crops, leading to a constant building/destroying cycle (much like the cheese racks, but even more annoying), especially considering how wood and glue quality will keep raising over time (faster than clay q does for pots).
[Con] You need to refill with compost/water, adding an extra boring step to farming
[Con] Compost/water also softcap the crops, making it only useful early game when your chances to have water of higher quality than crops are still good.

This would have maybe been more useful when winter was first introduced, but now that it only lasts 4.5 days it's really not worth it. You're adding more work AND softcapping the crops quality for what ends up being 1 more harvest (for fast crops) every couple of IRL months.

If you removed the softcap, and removed the fact that they need water/compost, then you have an equivalent to farming indoor. The "downside" would be that you still have to build the structure (u can add water and compost in the recipe) and that you would have to mine to make space for it.

If you want to keep the extra effort and the softcap, you need to give it something more. Maybe crops grow faster, or they give more seeds/crops, or new (good) crops that can only be planted in there.

Also as I added to another in-cave farming suggestion, I think a light source should be necessary for this. Use brazer, torches, or irrlight-related items to keep the crops growing (in a radius, similar to beeskep)

[Zentetsuken]

[Con] You have to build a structure to farm just a few crops

Same as potting, I don't see a big problem with it.

[Con] The structure quality softcaps the crops, leading to a constant building/destroying cycle (much like the cheese racks, but even more annoying), especially considering how wood and glue quality will keep raising over time (faster than clay q does for pots).

Eventually, MAYBE, I can see this spinning around and actually mitigating the need for crop circles later world?

[Con] You need to refill with compost/water, adding an extra boring step to farming

I think this would be done on smaller scales and that the "fuels" would probably be spent really pretty slowly

This would have maybe been more useful when winter was first introduced, but now that it only lasts 4.5 days it's really not worth it. You're adding more work AND softcapping the crops quality for what ends up being 1 more harvest (for fast crops) every couple of IRL months.

Absolutely agree. I hope that they one day will revert winter to be a normal length season with snow falling/disappearing at very fast rates during the start and end.

If you removed the softcap, and removed the fact that they need water/compost, then you have an equivalent to farming indoor. The "downside" would be that you still have to build the structure (u can add water and compost in the recipe) and that you would have to mine to make space for it.

If you want to keep the extra effort and the softcap, you need to give it something more. Maybe crops grow faster, or they give more seeds/crops, or new (good) crops that can only be planted in there.

I can see it working without the softcapping too, but it might be too OP? I duno, it's certainly worth debating about.
One of the "mores" I hope it would eventually give is the ability to produce cultivars, as I mentioned.

Also as I added to another in-cave farming suggestion, I think a light source should be necessary for this. Use brazer, torches, or irrlight-related items to keep the crops growing (in a radius, similar to beeskep)

It's been suggested 100 times, I believe I made a length suggestion specific to cave farming in the past too.
Light was never part of my suggestion but rather the lack of light seemed like a fun hurdle that would limit what we can plant and also, again, make the ability to crate cave-only cultivars viable. There are many directions they could take such an idea.

[MagicManICT]

I like the cavebulb idea for lighting, but a firefly currenly is brighter than they are. maybe special use for irrlight lanterns? or something... Plants need that UV/A light, though, if we're going to be all sciency about it.

I'd rather have cave crops if we're going to do cave farming. Tameable slimes when? Cave louse cowboys?

[Fierce_Deity]

I don't see how raised beds prolong seasons IRL in any way. Sure, generally they are a compact size and easy to work in, but that does not mean I can suddenly grow squash in the winter, nor lettuce in the middle of summer. If we are going to have cave farming I would rather a suite of new 'cave crops' be added to the game than any normal crops growing indoors. It would super neat to grow some sort of cave roots, some sort of moss, maybe a fanciful mushroom that you open to get a new type of grain. Some sort of cave livestock would be cool too(louse maybe lol?). Its a whole area for potential development & fleshing out, and I'd rather not see it marred by normal crops growing in caves.

IMO garden pots should not grow in caves. They should be fine to live/overwinter, but growth should pause while in a cave and they should die after like 15+ irl days in a cave.

[Zentetsuken]

I don't see how raised beds prolong seasons IRL in any way.

Where I live people use raised beds made with dark materials to trap heat in the soil and lift it away from potential ground frost. If the winter is mild and sunny people can easily overwinter hardy crops in a raised bed that might otherwise die or go in to a winter hibernation sort of phase.

That being said, I would definitely like to see cave-specific crops as well

[Barbamaus]

I don't see how raised beds prolong seasons IRL in any way.

It depends where you live. In cold climates, raised planting beds can extend the farming season a bit by safekeeping the plants from the temperature drops at night.
Then again, Haven seems to only have "all the crops" or "none of the crops" options. Maybe seasonal crops should become a thing, but that's another topic.

IMO garden pots should not grow in caves. They should be fine to live/overwinter, but growth should pause while in a cave and they should die after like 15+ irl days in a cave.

Agreed, but this too should be a different thread.

[Con] You have to build a structure to farm just a few crops

Same as potting, I don't see a big problem with it.

The difference is that pots are the ONLY way to grow forgeable herbs. If you could plant them directly like crops, nobody would use garden pots either.

If you removed the softcap, and removed the fact that they need water/compost, then you have an equivalent to farming indoor. The "downside" would be that you still have to build the structure (u can add water and compost in the recipe) and that you would have to mine to make space for it.

If you want to keep the extra effort and the softcap, you need to give it something more. Maybe crops grow faster, or they give more seeds/crops, or new (good) crops that can only be planted in there.

I can see it working without the softcapping too, but it might be too OP? I duno, it's certainly worth debating about.
One of the "mores" I hope it would eventually give is the ability to produce cultivars, as I mentioned.

How would it be OP? If it grows at the same rate, there won't be much of a difference. The only difference will be you need to actually make space and build the planting beds, rather than just plow the ground (which u don't need to flatten btw, even if most people do for design reasons).