Survivalist: Invisible Strain

Survivalist: Invisible Strain

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Farming Guide
By Red riding hood the third
Guide about all farmable crop types. Seasons and temperature.
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Crops
(Left to right: Chilli, Carrot, Pumpkin, Sunflower, Corn, Cabbage, Cucumber, Beetroot)

Chilli
Chilli is used to make Curry. In itself it doesnt nourish a lot but you can farm up to 10 Chilli's from a single crop. Only a small farm plot is needed to have a steady supply of curry going. Doesnt take up much weight either.


Carrot
Carrot is used in all types of recipes. In addition you can hunt rabbits with Carrots. Carrots can nourish your survivor but it is recommended to either hunt rabbits with it or make stew. Carrots itself are very inefficient to farm because they use seeds and a single crop only yields 1 carrot and at max 3 seeds. If you plan to use carrots for stews or curries then you'll need to have a large farm going. Doesnt take up much weight though.

Pumpkin
Pumpkins are the pinnacle of the foodchain. One can feed one survivor for one day and results in more stew if used as ingredient. The downside is their weight which is 5lbs each. Farming pumpkins takes the longest to farm with 5 days needed to finish growing but in return you can harvest 5 Pumpkins per crop at lvl 5.

Sunflower
Sunflowers dont nourish your survivors as much as it only results in sunflower seeds when harvested. They weight barely nothing but in itself i wouldnt farm sunflowers if i only wanna farm food. Each crop can yield up to 15 seeds which might be a positive. Sunflower seeds can be turned into oil which can replace vodka to make molotovs.


Corn
Corns are the best crop for surviving through winter. One boiled Corn can feed one survivor for 0.5 Days and you can get up to 10 Corn from a single crop! They take 5 days to finish growing. They weight 1lbs each and can be used in stew or curry. It is recommended to farm Corn if you only want to farm 1 crop type.


Cabbage

Cabbage are inefficient to farm because they use seeds and one crop only yields 1 Cabbage in return with a bunch of seeds. One can nourish one survivor for 0.4 Days but their main use is as the main ingredient in Stew and Curry. They can be substituted with pumpkins but pumpkins take up a lot of space with their weight. A lot of space is needed to efficiently grow cabbage and unless you farm all crops needed to make stew i wouldnt recommend farming cabbage. They're a bit on the heavy side with 2lbs each.

Cucumber

Cucumbers are this weird type of ingredient with barely any uses. One can feed one survivor for 0.3 days and if farmed at lvl 5 you can get 5 cucumbers from one crop. They take the shortest time to grow together with all seed based crops at 3 days. A big minus is they're not used in stew nor curry for their tastyness but instead in salad. Cucumbers arent bad to farm as they have sufficient yield and nourishment but if you plan to survive through winter or make stew then go for corn instead.

Beetroot

Beetroot is used to make sugar. Sugar used to be an ingredient to make gunpowder but one update removed this part. Sugar itself barely acts as food with 0.001 nourishment but can make survivors happy. Beetroots only nourish one survivor for 0.2 days and are horrible to farm as they use seeds and one crop only results in 1 beetroot and 2 seeds at lvl 5. They can be used to make stew but the massive farm needed to keep a supply going makes it a very unattractive vegetable.
Seasons
Calendar
Calendar
Early
Mid
Late
Spring
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Summer
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
Fall
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
Winter
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84

Temperature
Temperature
Early
Middle
Late
Spring
-12°C / 6°C
1°C / 23°C
9°C / 25°C
Summer
13°C / 36°C
19°C / 34°C
8°C / 31°C
Fall
17°C / 37°C
-1°C / 22°C
0°C / 10°C
Winter
-15°C / 1°C
-19°C / 5°C
-21°C / 5°C
Differences between farming skill 0 and farming skill 5
Affected by farming level
  • Crops planted and final yield
Not affected by farming level
  • Planting speed
  • Crops growing speed
  • Harvesting crops
Growing Stages Overview
  • All crops have different stages as well different final yield when planted with different farming levels.
  • Due to the amount of information for each crop i'll be giving each crop their own section instead of making a section about growing time.
  • Farming level doesnt affect harvesting so a lvl 5 farmer will get the same amount as a lvl 0 farmer harvesting one corn crop.
  • If you happen to not have enough inventory space and try to harvest one crop then it will harvest as many vegetables as possible and then storage those supplies. The crop itself wont be destroyed until all vegetables have been harvested.
  • There is a chance you end up with one bad crop in your farm. they only yield in either 1 seed or 1 vegetable. The chance of getting a bad crop get lower the higher your farming level is.
Chilli
Growing Stages
Stage 1
Day 1

Crops at stage 1 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 2




Stage 2
Day 2

Crops at stage 2 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 3






Stage 3
Day 3

Crops at stage 3 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 4






Stage 4
Day 4

Crops at stage 4 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 5







Stage 5
Day 5

Crops at stage 5 finished growing and can be harvested
Potential Yield
Farming Level
Chilli
Farming lvl 0
1
Farming lvl 1
2
Farming lvl 2
4
Farming lvl 3
6
Farming lvl 4
8
Farming lvl 5
10
Carrot
Growing Stages
Stage 1
Day 1

Crops at stage 1 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 2




Stage 2
Day 2

Crops at stage 2 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 3








Stage 3
Day 3

Crops at stage 3 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 4





Stage 4
Day 4

Crops at stage 4 finished growing and can be harvested








Potential Yield
Farming Level
Carrots
Carrot Seeds
Farming lvl 0
1
0
Farming lvl 1
1
1
Farming lvl 2
1
1
Farming lvl 3
1
2
Farming lvl 4
1
2
Farming lvl 5
1
3
Pumpkin
Growing Stages
Stage 1
Day 1

Crops at stage 1 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 2




Stage 2
Day 2

Crops at stage 2 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 3









Stage 3
Day 3

Crops at stage 3 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 4







Stage 4
Day 4

Crops at stage 4 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 5






Stage 5
Day 5

Crops at stage 5 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 6








Stage 6
Day 6

Crops at stage 6 finished growing and can be harvested

Potential Yield
Farming Level
Pumpkin
Farming lvl 0
1
Farming lvl 1
1
Farming lvl 2
2
Farming lvl 3
3
Farming lvl 4
4
Farming lvl 5
5
Sunflower
Growing Stages
Stage 1
Day 1

Crops at stage 1 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 2




Stage 2
Day 2

Crops at stage 2 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 3





Stage 3
Day 3

Crops at stage 3 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 4












Stage 4
Day 4

Crops at stage 4 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 5













Stage 5
Day 5

Crops at stage 5 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 6













Stage 6
Day 6

Crops at stage 6 finished growing and can be harvested

Potential Yield
Farming Level
Sunflower Seeds
Farming lvl 0
1
Farming lvl 1
3
Farming lvl 2
6
Farming lvl 3
9
Farming lvl 4
12
Farming lvl 5
15
Corn
Growing Stages
Stage 1
Day 1

Crops at stage 1 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 2




Stage 2
Day 2

Crops at stage 2 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 3










Stage 3
Day 3

Crops at stage 3 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 4
















Stage 4
Day 4

Crops at stage 4 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 5




















Stage 5
Day 5

Crops at stage 5 finished growing and can be harvested
Potential Yield
Farming Level
Corn
Farming lvl 0
1
Farming lvl 1
2
Farming lvl 2
4
Farming lvl 3
6
Farming lvl 4
8
Farming lvl 5
10
Cabbage
Growing Stages
Stage 1
Day 1

Crops at stage 1 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 2




Stage 2
Day 2

Crops at stage 2 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 3







Stage 3
Day 3

Crops at stage 3 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 4






Stage 4
Day 4

Crops at stage 4 finished growing and can be harvested








Potential Yield
Farming Level
Cabbage
Cabbage Seeds
Farming lvl 0
1
0
Farming lvl 1
1
0
Farming lvl 2
1
1
Farming lvl 3
1
1
Farming lvl 4
1
2
Farming lvl 5
1
2
Cucumber
Growing Stages
Stage 1
Day 1

Crops at stage 1 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 2




Stage 2
Day 2

Crops at stage 2 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 3





Stage 3
Day 3

Crops at stage 3 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 4






Stage 4
Day 4

Crops at stage 4 finished growing and can be harvested








Potential Yield
Farming Level
Cucumber
Farming lvl 0
1
Farming lvl 1
1
Farming lvl 2
2
Farming lvl 3
3
Farming lvl 4
4
Farming lvl 5
5
Beetroot
Growing Stages
Stage 1
Day 1

Crops at stage 1 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 2




Stage 2
Day 2

Crops at stage 2 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 3






Stage 3
Day 3

Crops at stage 3 need one full day and one full night cycle to reach stage 4









Stage 4
Day 4

Crops at stage 4 finished growing and can be harvested








Potential Yield
Farming Level
Beetroot
Beetroot Seeds
Farming lvl 0
1
0
Farming lvl 1
1
0
Farming lvl 2
1
1
Farming lvl 3
1
1
Farming lvl 4
1
2
Farming lvl 5
1
2
Death of a crop
Stage 1
  • Stage 1 is the mound stage.
  • It can grow fine at anything above 0°C
  • Anything between -10°C and 0°C will 'freeze' the mound and prevent it from getting to stage 1.
  • Anything below -10°C Will kill the mound after one full day cycle and one full night cycle
Stage 2 and above
  • Stage 2 and above includes the budding stage and the finished product
  • It can grow fine at anything above 0°C
  • Anything below 0°C will effectively kill the crop.
  • After one full day cycle it will take a brown color which signifies that it died.
  • After another full day and night cycle the crop will disapper.
  • Even if the temperature goes back above 0°C and gets constant water it will still die.
Tips for farming
Farming needs constant watering. Either construct a well or build your farm near rivers.

You can flatten your farm plot by constructing a barn on it and then demolishing it right after.

Once you have 2 survivors you can plan out your farm land per crop type. It'll allow your farmers to automatically plant crops in those spots.

A general rule of thumb is to start farming late spring and stop farming early fall.

There are 8 Crop types in total. Focus on crops you want to make use of like in stew or curry.

Dont forget you can cook your crops. You can stockpile cooked food using a sealed container and buckets.
Author Notes
It took me longer watching grass grow ingame then writing this guide.
I'm a bit burned out from crops so i'll finish the parts like optimal farm size per survivor for a later date. I'll be doing a zombie guide for now though.
Will update in the future.
8 Comments
WhoIsIt? 2 Dec, 2024 @ 9:20am 
Jeez this guide is pretty old! I'm going to feature this post/guide in my newsletter that we hold in the official discord.
I wanted to credit you in all ways possible when doing so; If you can, @JohnTrent in the discord and message me here on steam to prove you're the creator of said post. (All for validation)
I have a deadline of 12PM EST Sunday. Please reach out before then (Anytime works).

Also, Amazing work on this. Use it all the time. :steamthis::approved:

Invite code to discord: 5mKaRg6NWs or uQX79k2 / There is also a link in-game.
Red riding hood the third  [author] 19 Jan, 2021 @ 2:56am 
Sure!
Mini 18 Jan, 2021 @ 8:01pm 
Can I quote this on my blog on the Korean website?
Red riding hood the third  [author] 17 Jan, 2021 @ 2:04pm 
Seeds and vegetables can be looted from buildings. Bases also have their own farm you can steal from. And as you mentioned merchants often carry over two types of seeds for farming. From my memory there exists no wild vegetables within the wilds.
Nocturnal626 17 Jan, 2021 @ 11:57am 
how do you find these out in the wild? or do i have to trade for them all
Who? 7 Dec, 2020 @ 2:07am 
Amazing guide, you have the patience of a ... umm .... well you must be very patient!!! I am really looking forward to a guide or recommendation on farm composition and size! (struggling with stuffed barns :P)
Red riding hood the third  [author] 25 Jul, 2020 @ 9:11am 
Thank you very much! being able to remove (wip) markers helps me a ton.
Freddy Prince 25 Jul, 2020 @ 6:38am 
Nice guide.

Cucumbers: You say they have the shortest growing cycle, 3 days like Corn. In the Corn section you say it (corn) takes 4 days to grow. Also Cukes are used for Salad.

Sunflowers: The oil can be used in place of Vodka to make Molotovs.