Embarking on the journey through ‘Stardew Valley,’ players are often on the lookout for strategies that will maximize their crop production and, consequently, their profits. One such strategy, which is a game-changer for many, involves leveraging the power of multiple greenhouses and garden pots.
By completing the Pantry Bundle with diligent farming, crafting Artisan goods, and caring for animals, players can unlock their first greenhouse before the winter season. This greenhouse is a farming haven, capable of housing 120 crops, 18 fruit trees, and several processing machines that turn your harvest into high-value products.
Setting up your Greenhouse in Stardew Valley
Your greenhouse layout is crucial, and the right sprinkler setup can maximize your space for the most efficient farming. Players can even ask Robin at the carpentry store to move their greenhouse, tailoring their farm layout to their liking. Upon completing the bundle, players receive a free garden pot from Evelyn, who also teaches the crafting recipe.
The greenhouse is great for high-value crops, like ancient fruit and star fruit, enabling year-round growth. It can take a while to get these seeds, so feel free to plan whatever you have available that yields the highest profit per seed. Think about multi-harvest crops, too, like blueberries!
Taking Advantage of Garden Pots
While garden pots are resource-intensive, demanding clay, stone, and refined quartz, the investment pays off. Items like crystallariums can duplicate fire quartz for refined quartz, and staircases can be deconstructed to reclaim stone, making resource farming more efficient. Alternatively, you can purchase stones directly from Robin if you have spare coins.
The pursuit of Deluxe Retaining Soil is where things get interesting. The soil, crafted with stone, fiber, and clay, ensures that crops stay watered indefinitely after one watering. It requires the completion of the Community Center, a visit to Ginger Island, and the collection of golden walnuts to access the Island Trader. You’ll also want to prioritize unlocking fiber seeds from Linus’s special order and clay from the Ginger Island dig site.
The soil recipe costs 50 Cinder Shards and can be farmed by braving the volcano with a burglar ring. This ring will help increase your chances of gathering enough Cinder Shards in one run.
Creating your Faux Greenhouse in Stardew Valley
With garden pots and Deluxe Retaining Soil in hand, the next step is to build Deluxe Sheds. These sheds can fit 137 garden pots, surpassing the capacity of a greenhouse. Although setting up the soil and watering each pot initially is tedious, it’s made easier with an iridium watering can.
Planting seeds like pineapples that regrow indefinitely reduces future maintenance. However, it’s worth noting that deep-rooted crops like Ancient Fruit are not suitable for pots. You’ll get a message stating the roots go too deep for these pots, which is a bit of a bummer.
The true advantage of Deluxe Retaining Soil is that it turns your shed into a low-maintenance, high-profit farm akin to a greenhouse with a built-in sprinkler system. It’s a setup that requires no further watering, ensuring that crops never die or need re-watering, regardless of the season.
Maximizing your Crops
For newcomers to ‘Stardew Valley,’ you’ll need to prepare and plan before you go to the fake greenhouse stage. However, it can significantly boost your profits when combined with your real greenhouse and selling artisanal goods. Try to prioritize gathering as many resources as possible using these quick tips:
- You can get a bunch of fiber in the mutant bug lair. It regrows every few days, so make sure to visit a couple of times a week to stock up on fiber
- There’s also a decent surplus of fiber on floors 15 and 25 of the regular mines
- Clay is a bit tougher to acquire. Get to Ginger Island as fast as you can to mine the clay nodes on the west side of the island. Otherwise, look for tillable dirt in the regular mines and till them for a chance at clay
- You’ll end up getting a ton of stone by just going through the mines normally. It makes things faster if you have access to bombs
