Guide:Gardening

Gardening is the practice of intentionally spawning resources in a convenient area for harvest.

There are several plants and fungi that can successfully be farmed in Terraria, though there are a few things to keep in mind.

To farm you'll first need to collect seeds.

All the grasses spread fairly quickly, so a large amount of it isn't necessary. One seed will eventually fill an entire garden, however only one tree will grow per acorn planted. Surface mushrooms grow more abundantly when you trim the grass.

You'll then need to prepare the appropriate environment.

Potion/Seed Farm
Simple seed garden for the new plants used to create the variety of potions added in 1.0.5. Individual notations are made on each section (such as soil type, harvest conditions, and special instructions. This design can be easily expanded each time the farming process is complete.

The preferable method for growing and harvesting potion plants is through the use of pots. Seeds from all potion plants can be planted and grow in empty Clay Pots. As of 1.0.5, plants in pots may only be harvested with a Pickaxe and therefore specific plants can easily be chosen, leaving immature and non-blooming plants alone. Only Blooming plants drop seeds, whereas immature plants drop nothing, so it is best to wait for the blooming period.

Both methods are viable farming techniques, as growing plants inside pots makes for much slower harvesting (just run through with weapon swinging on ones planted in ground), but increases the amount of plants able to be grown in a limited area (plants require 2 height clearance above clay pot or ground to grow). Also, much safer and easier to farm Fireblossoms (uses much less lava, 1-2 buckets above the safe walking amount).

Note that to plant seeds, you must click the block above the pot while equipped with seeds as your active item.

Normal Mushrooms
Normal mushrooms will grow anywhere with normal grass. To make a normal mushroom farm, simply place several layers of dirt with gaps in between. The grass must be naturally lit. Most farms can produce roughly 5-10 mushrooms per screen per harvest.

Note that vines will grow down from strips of grassy dirt, preventing the growth of mushrooms. To combat this, add a layer of stone (or other non-dirt block) under each layer of dirt. Wooden platforms are an excellent option here since the player can walk through them, allowing layers to be packed more tightly.



Trees
A tree farm is usually nothing more than a wide, flat surface where players plants their acorns. If the tree farm sees heavy use, players might level off the area more carefully. It is possible to layer tree farms like the mushroom farms, but trees require far more height. Trees only grow as many as 15 blocks high, making this an ideal spacing. (Note that trees generated with the map are often much taller.)

Also note tree spacing: Each sapling should have two empty spaces on either side of it; you can use underground markers such as torches to make this easier. That means you need three spaces between each acorn, as the first to grow into a tree may fill an additional space on each side with it's trunk. Additionally, cut the grass around saplings regularly as it impedes their growth.

As they have similar requirements, a tree farm may also serve as an arena for the Goblin Army.

A surface jungle is much more efficient because the trees grow automatically. A large, flat area of mud one block deep and jungle grass on the surface will automatically grow trees. This is also a great way of obtaining green dye.

Keep in mind that placing jungle grass tiles will attract surface jungle monsters like jungle slimes and snatchers may appear. This means that jungle tree farms may have the disadvantage of undesired jungle monsters.



Glowing Mushrooms
Glowing Mushrooms are perhaps the most worthwhile thing to intentionally grow. A Glowing Mushroom farm unfortunately has to be underground, far enough where the Depth Meter reads 4 feet below the surface or lower. They usually consist of several layers of mud with Mushroom Grass Seeds planted on them. Without the need to weed the farm of normal grass (as is the case with normal mushrooms) the Glowing Mushrooms yield astonishing results. Even a small farm can support a multi-player server with 3-5 players.

A gap tall enough to walk through should be kept between finished rows, for ease of harvesting.

A small garden of this sort goes a long way. One roughly the size of the screen can provide as many as 200 glowing mushrooms in a single harvest - enough for around seven full stacks of potions.

Jungle
There are two major resources to gather from a jungle farm, Jungle Seeds and Jungle Spores. Jungles require Mud to grow.


 * Jungle Seeds can be gathered both above ground and underground. The same layered methods used for mushroom farming work well here; be warned that the area will spawn jungle monsters.  By creating an open-top area, trees will spontaneously grow, which is good for growing wood but not good for growing grass for seeds.


 * Jungle Spores can only be found below ground. Be warned that an underground jungle farm can spawn even more dangerous creatures including Man Eaters and Hornets.

Bear in mind! To farm Jungle Spores, you need to create your farm at about 500 feet deep, not just "below" as glowing mushrooms. If you plant Jungle seeds at the depth of less than 500 feet, no spores will grow there.

Underground Jungle farms will also occasionally grow Jungle Roses and Nature's Gifts

An underwater jungle farm can be created to farm Piranha for Hooks and the rare Robot Hat.

Vile Mushrooms
Vile Mushrooms grow on corrupted grass. Be aware that planted corruption will spawn enemies and spread like natural corruption does, but this spread can be controlled using sunflowers. If it's close enough to your NPCs, the reduction in enemy spawns will keep anything from showing up. Vile mushrooms need to be in an area big enough to dim the sunlight, and they need to be naturally lit as with normal mushrooms above.

A somewhat dangerous project with potential side effects. Corrupting an area with Corrupt Seeds and layering it like a mushroom farm can provide an area for harvesting Vile Mushrooms for the production of Vile Powder. Unfortunately, a large corrupted area also spawns obnoxious corruption monsters, so this project should be undergone with careful placement and consideration.

This area may also serve as an arena for fighting the Eater of Worlds (see below). Note that an area of wooden platforms is recommended for the actual fight, however he may be summoned from within the farm.



Mushroom Farm Layouts
It is possible to create higher yield mushroom farms by placing multiple mushroom layers between harvesting layers. In this sort of layout mushroom layers are stacked between harvesting layers to create a much more efficient farm. A mushroom layer is a layer of mushroom grass followed by a layer of air for glow mushrooms, and a layer of stone(or any non-dirt block) followed by a layer of grass followed by a layer of air. A harvesting layer is simply a layer of air 3 blocks high in which the player will go though to harvest their mushrooms.

For an efficient mushroom farm, mushroom layers are stacked 2 high, followed by a harvesting layer, followed by another set of mushroom layers. A glowing mushroom farm follows the same layout, but the mushroom layers can be stacked up to 3 high.

To harvest this type of farm a swinging weapon with a longer reach (such as a broadsword or Muramasa) is suggested as they can easily reach and harvest the in-between mushroom layers.

There are many other possible layouts for a high-yield mushroom farm.