SpawnPass · Rust
Growing crops: planters, water, light and fertiliser
How long every crop takes, what slows it down, and why fertiliser matters more than people think.
Last checked 2026-09-21
Overview
A plant grows through seed, seedling, sapling, crossbreed, mature, fruiting and ripe. How fast it moves depends on four conditions, and the game uses the worst of the four.
The weakest condition sets the pace
Light, water, ground and temperature are each scored against what that crop needs. Growth runs at the lowest of the four, so perfect light cannot make up for poor soil.
Why fertiliser matters
A planter gives 0.6 ground quality and fertiliser adds 0.4. Most crops need 0.9 for full speed, berries 0.8 and potatoes 0.7, so an unfertilised planter grows hemp at about two-thirds speed. Fertiliser in the planter’s inventory is used automatically.
Water
A small planter holds 3,000 water, a large one 9,000 and a plant pot 1,000. The planter counts as ideally watered at 60% full. W genes make a plant drink 10% more each.
Heat and light
Heaters, fires and lights help plants within 4 m. Temperature is happiest around 30 °C and falls off towards 1 °C and 50 °C; H genes add a little tolerance.
Two stages ignore conditions
The Crossbreed stage and the Ripe stage run on the clock whatever the conditions. A ripe plant stays ripe for 24 hours (28 for roses, orchids and sunflowers) before it starts to die.
Harvest size
What you pick is the ripe stage’s base amount plus the yield gathered while fruiting, times the crop’s multiplier. Poor conditions shrink the yield gathered, but G genes make up for it: the plant gathers the full amount once conditions × growth bonus reaches 100%. Each Y gene then adds 25%.