The Minecraft Farming Handbook/Plant Farming

The Basics intermediate The Hoe thumb|Minecraft Hoe Recipe The hoe in Minecraft is one of the most useful and necessary tools when it comes to farming. Whilst it doesn't need to be used for all crops, a majority (especially those edible) do require it for its tilling purposes. Crafting the hoe is very simple, requiring two sticks and two of the following materials (but cannot be combined ex. wood and stone): Wood planks (any variety), cobblestone (regular stone or mossy cobblestone does NOT work), copper, gold, iron, and diamonds. Arrange these materials on the crafting grid like shown in the picture to the right. Alternatively, you can also craft a Netherite hoe, but the process is a little trickier after the tails and trails update in June 2023, no longer allowing you to just craft it using Netherite ingots. The current process requires you to make a diamond hoe, then combine it in a smithing table with a Netherite ingot and an upgrade template found within a bastion. This process, however, is intended for late game and is very expensive. In my opinion, you can craft it, but the diamond hoe is also very durable (and is IMO a lot more flashy). Some recommended enchantments to add to your hoe are: Mending (found through villager trades and chests that contain high value loot like in chests found in End Ships, Strongholds, and Nether fortresses), Unbreaking III, and Fortune III. These are, however, not required for use. Do not put enchantments on anything other than diamond and Netherite gear, as they will not last long and will be a waste of resources and valuable loot. You can use the hoe on all dirt and grass blocks except for the grass pathway blocks created by right clicking with a shovel (left trigger on controller). Crops There are many crops that are able to be planted within the game. The list of crops that are able to be planted include: Wheat, Potatoes, Carrots, Beetroots, Melons, Pumpkins, Bamboo, Sugarcane, Cactus, Netherwart, Cocoa Beans, Chorus Fruit, Sweetberry Bushes, and Glowberry Vines. Many of these items are not able to be eaten the instant you harvest them, like wheat and sugarcane. Cactus and bamboo, however, can't be eaten or consumed at all. Here are all of the crops that require a hoe: Wheat, Potatoes, Carrots, Beetroots, Melons, and Pumpkins. Individual Crop Specifics thumb|Wheat Wheat Wheat is the most basic crop in Minecraft, and it is used commonly. It has multiple uses such as breeding sheep, mooshrooms, cows, and goats. It is also used in crafting hay bales and packed mud, and creating the following foods: Bread, cake, and cookies. Villagers can be bred by dropping a piece of bread and allowing them to pick it up. Interestingly, you cannot breed llamas directly with wheat, but you may instead using hay bales. However, using wheat can both accelerate baby llama growth and regenerate health for adult llamas. Bread is a primary food source for many players, restoring two and a half shanks (5 hunger points), and providing 6 saturation points. It is very reliable, very cheap, and easy to farm. To farm wheat you must till the soil with your hoe, and plant wheat seeds on top. To find wheat seeds, they are located in chests, harvested from planted wheat, and can be obtained from breaking short and tall grass*. There is a common misconception that breaking tall grass is more likely to drop seeds, however, there is no difference in drop rate when it comes to breaking tall grass versus short. These drops are affected by the Fortune enchantment, which when dropped, yields more seeds than usual. Wheat seeds can feed chickens, and can be used to tame parrots. It should be noted that wheat breaks due to flowing water, allowing interesting build ideas whilst restricting you in some capacity. To this crop there are eight separate growth stages, with only four that are visibly different, in total taking around 10 - 35 minutes. This total time is affected by numerous mechanics listed later. It should be noted that the Fortune enchantment does not increase wheat yield, only seed yield (which is a shame quite honestly). Also make sure to light up your farm, as without proper lighting and no sky above, crops pop out of the ground! *Referring to standing grass, not grass blocks thumb|Potato Potatoes Once farmed, potatoes are a very reliable food source, especially in the baked state. In fact, if you have a steady source of burning material, they are more efficient than wheat as fortune works on the potatoes themselves and it only takes one baked potato to perform the effect of three wheat, though to plant you must plant the potatoes you just harvested. They have multiple uses like breeding pigs, being cooked into baked potatoes, and can be eaten raw. They have a poisonous variant that has a small chance of dropping from harvested potatoes, or can be found in chests. Poisonous potatoes, when eaten, provide one shank (2 hunger points), 1.2 saturation points, and have a 60% chance of inflicting the status effect: Poison I for . When eaten raw, they provide half a shank (1 hunger point), and 0.6 saturation points. Effective in a pinch, inefficient to eat consistently. In their baked state they provide two and a half shanks (5 hunger points), and 6 saturation points. To make a baked potato, it requires cooking a potato in either a furnace or smoker. Do note that neither poisonous potatoes nor baked potatoes can be fed to animals. Potatoes can be harvested from planted potatoes, found in chests, or dropped from zombies of all varieties excluding the drowned. To plant you must till the dirt with a hoe, then plant a potato. When growing there are eight separate stages of growth, however, only four separate stages are visibly different. Stage one, stage three, stage five, and stage eight are all of the separate visible stages, with all others being the same texture as the previous one. Growing in low light is impossible when the sky is not present and potatoes unplant themselves and pop out of the ground if it is too dark. You can breed villagers and pigs using potatoes. Dropping 12 potatoes to each villager allows for breeding. Unlike the carrot, you cannot make a potato on a stick to control a pig when riding. Fortune affects all potato harvests, with no Fortune enchantment allowing for 2-4 potaoes, Fortune I allowing for 2-5, Fortune II allowing for 2-6, and Fortune III allowing for 2-7 potatoes maximum. While not necessary, it is very useful for harvesting potatoes. thumb|Carrots Carrots Carrots are very simple crops that, when crafted, produce one of the best food items in the game: the golden carrot. They are also used to brew two different potions, the potion of nightvision and the potion of invisibility. Carrots are also used to breed both pigs and rabbits, and by crafting a carrot on a stick you can steer a pig while sitting on a saddle. As a regular food, without crafting, it is alright. It isn't bad, it isn't good either. They are reliable but don't restore as much as other foods. Carrots by themselves restore one and a half shanks (3 hunger points) and 3.6 saturation. However, the golden carrot is argued to be the best food item in the game, not because of its regular hunger regeneration, but its sustainability and saturation. Whilst the suspicious stew has a whopping 22.5 saturation points, it is not stackable unlike the golden carrot. The golden carrot provides the second highest saturation points in the game, 14.5, and stacks to sixty-four, providing the most saturation per slot. They also restore three shanks (6 hunger points), only requiring at most four to fill a full hunger bar. Golden carrots are also used in breeding horses, donkeys, mules, and rabbits (even though regular carrots also breed rabbits). Carrots can be found in villages, chests, harvesting, and through killing zombies as a rare drop. To plant carrots, you must till the dirt with a hoe, then plant a carrot. Carrots have eight separate growth stages, with only four that are visible. Fortune affects all carrot harvests, with no Fortune enchantment allowing for 2-4 carrots, Fortune I allowing for 2-5, Fortune II allowing for 2-6, and Fortune III allowing for 2-7 carrots maximum. Carrots unplant themselves in too low of light in the absence of the sky, so keep the farm lit or they won't grow! thumb|Beetroots Beetroots Beets are commonly disliked by many players due to the lack of hunger restoration, however they still have their uses. They can breed pigs and villagers, be used to craft stew, and their seeds can be used to tame parrots and breed chickens. Eating them raw restores only half a shank (1 hunger point), and 1.2 saturation points, being very ineffective at satiating hunger. While useful in a pinch, they are inefficient at long term hunger restoration. The beetroot stew they craft using six beets and a bowl restores three hunger shanks (6 hunger points) and 7.2 saturation points. The stew is even more inefficient as it provides the same value as the beets if used raw, costs more materials, and is not stackable. Their only benefit is faster consumption, but that is a very minor benefit to a stew of downsides. Planting beets is simple, you use a hoe to till the dirt, then place beetroot seeds on the tilled dirt. You can find beetroot seeds in chests, from harvested beetroot crops, and as a trade from the wandering trader. While other crops have eight growth stages, beetroots only have four growth stages and they are all visible. These crops pop out of the ground in too low of light levels when no sky is above it, so keep your farm lit! thumb|Cut Sugarcane Sugarcane Sugarcane is a very useful crop when it comes to villager trading, brewing, food, and crafting. It can be used to make paper, which has a variety of uses like trading for emeralds, making maps, crafting fireworks, and making books that are also used in a variety of products. Sugarcane can also be used to make sugar, which is also used in a variety of things like brewing swiftness and slowness potions, crafting fermented spider eyes, and crafting cakes and pumpkin pie. Suprisingly, sugar is not used to craft cookies. Many people don't know this (including myself until I crafted some a few weeks ago). You can find sugarcane along riverbanks, beaches, as trades from wandering traders, and in chests. Sugarcane is unique in it's growing conditions and must be placed on a block that is touching water, and this can include waterlogged blocks. Blocks you can grow it on is dirt, grass, sand, red sand, podzol, mycelium, mud, moss, or coarse dirt. It is also unique in the fact that it does not require to be placed on tilled land, and in fact, cannot be placed on tilled land. A common myth is that it grows faster on sand, however this has been disproven multiple times and you can test it out yourself if you want to. Sugarcane has only three growth stages and is very noticable. It will start as one block, then grows up into two, and finally three. At three blocks tall it cannot grow anymore and you should harvest it. You can break all of it, but it is recommended you break the sugarcane block in the middle first, so you do not have to go through the process of replanting like most crops. Sugarcane has many simple automatic farms, most of which you can find on Youtube or you can look at the build section of this Wikibook. Fortune has no effect on sugarcane, like many other crops. Sugarcane also does not rely on light allowing for farms that grow in the dark. thumb|Watermelon Melons and Pumpkins thumb|Pumpkins Melons and pumpkins are very similar in how they grow, so they are grouped together in one category. Melons have a few uses, they can be eaten, their seeds can tame parrots, melon blocks can be used as decoration, and they are used in crafting the glistening melon slice that is used in health potions. Melon slices restore one shank (2 hunger points) and 1.2 saturation points, not very effective, however they are harvested in large amounts and is affected by Fortune. Pumpkins also have multiple uses, and make multiple items. They are used to make pumpkin pie, their seeds can tame parrots, and shearing a pumpkin creates a carved pumpkin. Carved pumpkins also are used in many ways, they can be worn on your head and endermen won't get aggressive when looked at, they can make iron and snow golems, be used in decoration, and make jack-o-lanterns used in decoration. Pumpkin pie restores four shanks (8 hunger points) and 4.8 saturation points and stacks. With it being relatively cheap in materials, you can easily sustain yourself with these, especially when you add some chicken and sugarcane farms. Melons can be located through harvesting villages, in chests, in the jungle and woodland mansions, random patches in the grasses. Seeds are made from putting melon slices into a crafting table, returning one seed a slice. Seeds can also be found in chests, and as a wandering villager trade. Pumpkins can be found in many grassy areas as patches, villages, and can also be found in woodland mansions and pillager outposts (on the scarecrow). The seeds can be found in chests, crafting using a pumpkin, and from shearing pumpkins. Melons and pumpkins are very unique plants when it comes to growing, producing separate blocks that can be harvested. Pumpkins and melons, when grown, appear on a block adjacent to the stem, requiring space for them to grow. To plant, till the soil with a hoe, and plant a seed on the dirt, leaving a block's worth of room adjacent so it can grow. It can be noted that the melons or pumpkins do not appear on other stems, so you can feel safe in knowing they won't destroy other stems. They also only grow on solid blocks, so they won't spawn on the water. When harvesting, it is fastest to break the blocks with an axe. Also when harvesting, the stem stays and grows another pumpkin/melon from it, making it easily automatic. When pushed by a piston, melons and pumpkins also break, increasing how easy it is to automate. Fortune does work on melons, however, it does not work on pumpkins and every pumpkin yields one pumpkin. Without Fortune, every melon yields 3-7 melon slices, but Fortune can increase this to a maximum of 9 slices a melon. Both pumpkins and melons also require light to grow, so keep your farm lit! thumb|Cacao Cocoa Beans Cocoa beans in Minecraft have only two uses: making cookies and brown dye. Cookies are cheap to make, requiring only one cocoa bean and two wheat to make eight. Each cookie regenerates one shank (2 hunger points) and 0.4 saturation points. Cookies may be cheap, but you have to eat them consistently for you to not starve. Cocoa beans are pretty limited on where you can plant them, only being able to be placed on the sides of jungle logs. When fully grown, cocoa bean plants produce three cocoa beans, one of which is needed to replant (unless you don't replant). However, this garuntees that every harvest you obtain double of what you planted after replanting, allowing for rapid and mass replenishment and growth (3x growth every harvest at max!), especially considering cocoa beans grow extremely fast. The fastest way to harvest cocoa beans is by using an axe. Fortune, sadly, does not work on cocoa beans, still only producing three cocoa beans when harvested with Fortune III. Cocoa beans are also unaffected by the dark.thumb|Red Berries Sweetberries When it comes to foods, sweetberries are a relatively new addition compared to the other food items. Introduced in the "Village and Pillage" update in 2019, it has very few uses like eating, breeding foxes, and trading with villagers. They can be found on bushes in the Taiga, a biome with many very tall trees and is sometimes snowy. Their bushes also deal damage to mobs who walk through them, except the fox. When eaten, they restore one shank (2 hunger points) and 0.4 saturation points on Java (1.2 on Bedrock). To plant, all you need is one sweet berry, and place it on any form of dirt (except for farmland and pathways). To harvest, you do not need to break the bush, but rather use your interaction button to harvest them. This allows for easy automatic farming. Fortune also works on berries when breaking the bush. Every harvest without Fortune yields 2-3 when mature. Fortune increases this with Fortune I returning 2-4, Fortune II returning 2-5, and Fortune III returning 2-6. You can also break sweet berry bushes in their third stage for 1-2 berries, also affected by Fortune, allowing 1-3 for Fortune I, 1-4 for Fortune II, and 1-5 for Fortune III. Sweetberries are also unaffected by the dark. Glowberries Glowberries, like the sweetberries above, are also a very recent addition to Minecraft when it comes to food. Added in the "Caves and Cliffs" update, they can be found in lush bloom caves hanging from the celing. Glowberries have a few uses including lighting, eating, and breeding foxes. When eaten, glowberries regenerate one shank (2 hunger points) and 0.4 saturation points. Glowberries can be planted on the ceiling with a glowberry, producing glowberries off of the vines. To harvest them, use the interaction button when looking at a mature glowberry vine. Glowberries produce light, allowing for interesting lighting designs. Unlike sweetberries, glowberries are not affected by Fortune, yielding only one glowberry every time harvested. Glowberries are also unaffected by the dark. Chorus Fruit These purple foods found in the End are very interesting. They have multiple uses including hunger restoration, teleportation, negation of fall damage, and smelting to craft blocks including End rods and purpur blocks. Foxes can also eat chorus fruit, teleporting when consumed. When eaten, they regenerate two shanks (4 hunger points) and 2.4 saturation points. Also when eaten, it will teleport you (or foxes) randomly within an eight by eight radius, negating fall damage as well. When you smelt it, it will convert into popped chorus fruit, which is used in crafting purpur blocks and End rods, which can be used for lighting. To plant, place a chorus flower (found at the tops of chorus plants) ontop of end stone. It is important when harvesting that you get the flower before you break the bottom, otherwise it will not drop and you cannot replant. The chorus fruit is the tallest plant in the game (that is not a tree), usually reaching and stopping at sixteen blocks tall, however the tallest recorded has grown to twenty-two blocks tall. Chorus fruit also likes to expand horizontally, so make sure you leave room for it to grow, and space them out. Fortune does not work on chorus fruit, and they always drop zero to one fruit per block. Chorus fruit is also unaffected by the dark, allowing dark growing. Chorus fruit is also unaffected by bonemeal, unlike most crops. Netherwart Netherwart is essential and necessary to potion making, allowing for the brewing of all potions. Found in Nether Fortresses, they can be farmed to create a very sustainable supply. Netherwart can also be used to trade with cleric villagers for emeralds, and creating Netherwart blocks for decoration. Just one farm with more than thirty Netherwart, should be enough to last you for all your needs, forever (excluding mass potion brewing and large amounts of emerald trading). Netherwart is one of two items on this crop list that is not used to regen hunger, providing zero nutritional value in any way. To plant Netherwart, it requires soul sand and one Netherwart, then plant the Netherwart on top of the soul sand. Netherwart has four stages of growth, but only three visually distinct stages because stage one and two have the same texture. Breaking mature Netherwart with your hand returns 2-4 Netherwart every crop. However, Fortune works on Netherwart, with each level adding one to that number. Fortune I grants 2-5 Netherwart, Fortune II grants 2-6 Netherwart, and Fortune III returns 2-7 Netherwart. Netherwart is unaffected by light and water, so it can basically be grown anywhere, even in the dark. An important thing to note as well is that it is unaffected by bonemeal, requiring it to grow for it's whole duration and cannot be sped up. thumb|Cactus Cactus The cactus is one of two crops in this book that can harm you when touched. Its used for a few things like green dye, a trashcan, and decoration for your builds. When an item comes in contact with a cactus, it is instantly destroyed,including Netherite gear. Cactus is also unique in the fact that it is one of the only two crops in this book able to be placed in a pot, and it is also not edible in any form. They can be found in deserts, desert villages, mesas, igloos with basements, and as a trade from a wandering trader. Planting it requires a bit of space, as the cactus cannot have a block adjacent to it or it will break. Also when placing, you can only plant it on sand and red sand, so make sure you collect some. They do not have seeds, and to plant all you have to do is place a cactus on some sand and it will grow until its maximum three blocks tall. When it is at three blocks tall, you can break the middle one (like sugar cane) and the bottom will grow on its own, being easy to automate and requiring less time because you dont have to replant. Fortune has no effect on the cactus, so there is no need to mine it with a pickaxe, axe, or hoe. The cactus also does not rely on light, allowing for growing in the dark. thumb|Bamboo Forest, Japan Bamboo Bamboo is used in a variety of items in Minecraft nowadays. It is used to make scaffolding, sticks, planks, can be placed in a pot, and can also be used as fuel to smelt items in a furnace. Bamboo can also be used to breed pandas by dropping it for them and letting them eat it. Bamboo is one of the few crops inedible to the player, having no uses for consumption. By finding it in the jungle, you can plant it on any dirt, sand, or grass block. It is the fastest growing plant in the game,reaching it's maturity within minutes. At maximum, it will randomly grow between twelve and sixteen blocks tall, being the second tallest plant (thats not a sapling) in the game. To harvest, just break a bamboo second from the bottom, and everything above it will break. The bamboo left at the bottom will continue to grow just like cactus and sugarcane, allowing for easy automation. To make this process extremely quick, break it using an axe. Fortune does not work on bamboo, however it grows rapidly fast in large quantities so it wouldn't even be necessary. Mechanics thumb|Water Drop Hydration Hydration is a very important mechanic to farming, making farms work faster and more efficient. Hydration works if there is nearby water (flowing or source). Then, if close enough, farmland will reach a hydrated state. In this hydrated state, farmland will not revert itself to regular dirt unless it is trampled, even days after using a hoe, and the crops plant above it will grow quicker than if unhydrated. Hydration only affects farmland, so crops like bamboo or cocoa beans will be unaffected by it. To know if farmland is hydrated, you can see if it has changed to a darker texture. If the farmland looks darker than usual, it is hydrated. The range of water being able to hydrate farmland is four blocks, including diagonally, allowing water to be more spread out and knowing this can make your farm more efficient land wise. Trampling Trampling is an annoying bit of farming. Trampling always results in crops popping out of the ground, regardless if mature or not, and the farmland being converted to regular dirt, requiring to use a hoe again. Trampling occurs when you or an enemy jump or fall onto the farmland from a height usually higher than a block. In older versions, it used to also occur when simply walking on farmland, however this has been changed for the better. Ravagers also have the "fun" ability to trample on farmland just by simply walking, destroying the plants (and your sanity if you perform multiple raids). Lighting Lighting is important to many different crops, though not all of them. Specifically, it only affects crops planted on farmland (dirt affected by a hoe). If your farm is improperly lit and the space above is covered by a block, then your crops will pop out of the ground prematurely. This does not happen with open air however, so you won't have to worry about outdoor crops at night. Whilst pumpkin and melon stems will not pop out of the ground, they will not grow in the absence of light, so it is important to keep those farms lit as well. Row Farming thumb|Crop A is Yellow, Crop B is GreenRow farming is a secret mechanic that many players don't know about. When you plant your crops on farmland, they grow in a specific way. When it chooses to grow, it checks it's diagonals. If there is the same crop in any diagonal, it chooses to grow one or the other, not both. To circumnavigate this, you can plant in alternating rows (ex. carrot, wheat, carrot) like shown to the right. This method, due to this game mechanic, is a lot faster than the alternative of planting all the same crop. However, if you still only want one crop, they will still grow just fine. Bonemeal Bonemealing is a large part of farming that, while unnecessary, speeds up the process a lot faster. When you use bonemeal on a crop, it will accelerate it's growth stage until it is mature and ready for harvest. By using this item, you can plant and harvest a crop in seconds! To obtain bonemeal you can craft it from bones found from slaughtering skeletons, as a drop from fish, in certain chests, or putting bone blocks in a crafting table. Another way to obtain bonemeal is to use a composter! Inside a composter, you can put a majority of all plant matter in Minecraft (seeds, crops, cactuses, etc.) and once full, you can collect it for bonemeal! Bonemeal works on most plants, but not all. If you have a specific query, check out the crop specifics and it will list if bonemeal can't be used! Loaded In Chunks Plants in minecraft only grow within "loaded in chunks" of the game. For example, if you are a thousand blocks away from your farm, the farm won't grow. The technical term for "loaded chunks" is "simulation distance". If your crops are within this simulation distance, they will grow. There are different ways crops can be within simulation distance. One way is to use a chunk loader. A chunk loader is a device that keeps some chunks loaded and allows for functions within those chunks to happen. If you are just out of range from your crops, you can increase your "simulation distance"setting so that it extends and reaches your farm. Finally, only in Java edition of Minecraft version 1.20.5+, at spawn there is a three by three chunk area in which is always loaded in as long as there is a player in the overworld. This size was reduced from a larger number before the update, and if all players are in a different dimension (The End or The Nether) then they will also unload. thumb|Bucket Water Harvesting When water flows onto crops, the crops break (regardless of maturity). You can use this knowledge to your advantage, allowing faster harvests, especially since it does not revert farmland to dirt, requiring no retilling. When crops are ready to harvest, just place some water and watch it all harvest, this is especially good in certain builds which harvest all your crops with the flick of a lever. Go to Animal Farming --> <-- Go to Main Page