Help with master horticulture

[Col Boom Stick]

Can anyone give me some advice on the timing of fertilizing trees pls. Ive tried dumping it on the tree after the leaves fall but I always get the negative sound like a timed it wrong. Thanks in advance.

[Mulsiphix]

Straight from the Viva Wiki:

For most plants, you can use three applications of fertilizer immediately after planting them for maximum bonus growth. However some plants, such as trees, are a bit trickier and require a different strategy to fully boost growth.

Instead of fully fertilizing 3 times right after planting, you have to wait until certain stages in the tree's growth to fully fertilize it. Immediately after planting you can fertilize it once. Then you must wait until the tree has grown a bit and shakes leaves from its branches before fertilizing again. Wait again for it to shake and then you can perform the last fertilization. If you here a low pitched “ding-dong” when you fertilize then that particular dose did not do any good (was not effective) - if instead you hear no sound then you know the dose was useful/effective/good.. If you have any doubts, you can always over-fertilize. There is no penalty for over-fertilization or fertilization at the wrong time. Make sure your tree is watered, wait for it to grow and you should have a fully branched tree that produces more fruit!

[jqtaxpayer]

The best thing you can do is just take the fertilizer and hammer that "A" button. You get as many tries as you need to make it happen. Put the seed in a hole (it makes it happy!) so it doesn't take as long. That way it won't cost you a fortune. But just hammer the "A" button. I've got full growth bonuses on every plant from doing this.

[Mulsiphix]

Hammer the A button? Is this a glitch or something? If not isn't that just wasting cash on fertilizer you don't need?

[XGC XCore]

if you use a taffly they can also use the produce to make a fertilizer for free

[graemelunn]

Sod the cash - if low on cash, max grow some orchids, sell em and rake it in - then you wont care about wasting choccy money on fertilizing trees.

[Mulsiphix]

Nothing has proven to work better than the chilli method. Using the cheap fertilizer from the begger allows me to make 25,600 coins every crop of chili peppers. I plant the maximum it will allow me, 76 if I remember correctly, fertilize them, harvest them, and the entire process takes me about five minutes. When was the last time you made 300,000+ coins in a single hour by using any other method?

[graemelunn]

erm...... the other day, using orchids

[Mulsiphix]

What kind of cash are we talking about then? Please don't throw out a number either. How much do you really make in an hour of farming for cash using the orchid method?

[Zhouk]

yeah i tried it with orchids, they make more then chilis do with the fertilizer.

[Mulsiphix]

Anybody who uses the orchid method actually have any numbers to post? I've got my chilli's down a science. I'd love to learn of a better bang for my buck though if anybody has any stats for comparison.

[exorr]

Any secret to fertilizing trees? I'm find giving the first fertilization but can't seem to find the right time for the others.

[Mulsiphix]

Fertilizing a tree is trickier than other vegetables or flowers. Instead of fully fertilizing 3 times right after planting, you have to wait until certain stages in the tree's growth to fully fertilize it. Immediately after planting you can fertilize it once with the required color/special mix fertilizer. Then you must wait until the tree has grown. You can tell when the tree is ready for more fertilizer when it shakes and leaves fall from the branches. Wait again for it to shake and then you can perform the last fertilization. Make sure it's watered, wait for it to grow, and you should have a fully branched tree that has more branches and will produce more fruit/nuts!

[exorr]

Nice, so when the leaves fall that's the sign, got it, thanks so much

Does the beggar give you fertilizer as soon as he's converted? I converted him last night but didn't see fertilizer as one of the items he's selling.

[Mulsiphix]

Unfortunately the Special Mix Fertilizer won't appear in his shop until you reach level 20. Don't let that stop you from making lots of cash though. When planting chilli's I do them in very closely planted groups of 12.



The setup on the left is ideal but sometimes the plants don't plant right where I want and I end up planting them using the layout on the right. Either method works just fine though for what I am about to explain. Every time I use the chilli method my garden layout looks like this:



Once you have planted them, place your cursor directly in the center of the group, and then fertalize. If your cursor is in the center of the group then ALL of the plants will receive fertilizer. Red fertilizer may not be super cheap but considering that you can plant a maximum of 76 chillis at a time you stand to make a substantial profit.

The Math
01 Chilli Seed: 22cc
76 Chlili Seeds: 1,672cc
01 Red Fertilizer Usage: 18cc
03 Red Fertilizer Usage: 48cc
21 Red Fertilizer Usage: 1,134cc (7 groups of chillis, 3 times each group)
01 (3 times) Fertilized Chilli: 400cc
76 (3 times) Fertilized Chilli: 30,400

Net Profit: 30,400
Cost To Grow: 2,806
Pure Profit: 27,594

If your using Ivor's Special Mix fertalizer your pure profit would be 28,997. Remember to place your cursor in the center of the group of chillis so you can ferilize all chillis in the group at once. It really saves a lot of cash.

Tip: Many people will tell you to dig holes first but this is just a waste of time. Without digging holes you can still plant, fertilize, water, and harvest 76 chilli's in five minutes, give or take a few seconds. If you do it plenty I guarantee you that you can get a full 76 chilli harvest completed in under five minutes.

Tip: This method can easily be perfected after doing it a few times. All you have to do is plant all 76 chillis first and then water them. Your first couple of groups will probably be black and blinking becuse they are on the virge of death but be calm, get all your chillis planted, and then water them. By doing this you save a lot of time and that is how you can grow and sell 76 chillis in under 5 minutes.

[Bad Ham]

WOW, thanks so much Mul for that chili tip.

One question, would one have to cut down all the trees and plants to be able to plant 76 chili seeds at the same time?

[Mulsiphix]

Yes. There is a limit to the amount of plants you can have growing in your garden at the same time. Which is why I have a special garden I only use for growing chillis. The entire thing is grass but gets the job done. I wouldn't recommend generating cash in a garden you've spent a lot of time in because, as you pointed out, you would have to wipe it of all current vegetation or grow a smaller amount of chilli's per batch.

[Bad Ham]

I'm just wondering, can the chocolate coins be used over different gardens? Because if the coins only stick to one garden, then I wouldn't see the point in making a new garden just for chili.

Edit : And thanks for the chili tip again. I thought the only way I was going to get 100k coins was to keep on selling pinatas. '-'

[Mulsiphix]

Originally Posted by Bad Ham

And thanks for the chili tip again. I thought the only way I was going to get 100k coins was to keep on selling pinatas. '-'

No problem. Glad I could be of help.

All of your gardens share the same coins as well as gardner levels, watering can, seeds (like long grass), and other core unlockables like shovel upgrades .

[Skinke]

Personally I use Bird of Paradise flowers for cash. The orange fertilizer is only 3 coins, and they sell for 1440 coins each. Chili is good until you actually get the seed for BoP, though. Orchids are worth more at 1800 each, but they just take too damn long to grow.

I can't remember exactly how long it takes for a BoP plant to grow to full maturity, but if you can plant 76 of them (never actually planted this many myself), minus the total fertilizer cost of 684, you'd get 108,756 coins from one full harvest. If you actually had the patience to do it for an hour, I think you'd get a decent amount of coins.

[Mulsiphix]

Since I no longer have a 360 in my possession I can't try it out for myself but the maximum isn't set to 76 plants. I think each plant is assigned a value for size and the garden allows for a maximum number. I've never seen a BOP so I don't know how big they are but I remember when I was using the Poison Ivy method I wasn't allowed to plant anywhere near 76. Then again they are very large plants.

[Skinke]

To the best of my memory, the BoP is slightly smaller than the Poison Ivy flower, but it gets three flowerheads when fully catalyzed, which might make a difference. If I had the game anymore I'd try it out, but I returned it a while back. Either way, they're both great methods. Making money in the game isn't too difficult.

[Mulsiphix]

Very true. A little bit goes a very long way in Viva. A nice change from genres, like MMO's, that are centered on money or even other Sims, like The Sims, where money is everything if you want to really enjoy the game.

[lmc059]

it was a while ago i finished this game but to make money i had a hunny factory going as well as planting Bird of Paradise and using the crocadile to fertilise my plants to full growth and sold them off for almost 2000 coins if i remember that correctly i think i endend up 100,000 coins

[Skinke]

Also, actually on topic, amazingly enough, Viva Wiki isn't entirely correct.

If you here a low pitched “ding-dong” when you fertilize then that particular dose did not do any good (was not effective) - if instead you hear no sound then you know the dose was useful/effective/good..

If the fertilizer was used at the right time, you will actually hear a sound. It's, like... a high-pitched "bloop" sort of sound. It's kind of hard to describe, but turn the volume up a bit, and you'll definitely hear it.

[Eyeradicate]

I'm sure these are all great methods...but I guess I'm lazy, I just planted a ton of posion ivy seeds, as when they are finished like 3 more seeds pop out and are so close you can't plant them...but if you don't touch them they gather and automaticly plant themselves. Hire a gatherling, she comes and picks up all the goodies and I just let it sit as for you don't have to water them or do anything... I guess it's a to each his own scenario...