Faster crops
Build a field that waters and lights itself from one Aquifer, and speed it up with Irrigation and Lumen Modules.
The problem#
A normal crop field needs water within reach of every plot, light so crops do not stall at night or underground, and a lot of ground to make the output worth the effort. An Aquifer does the first two with no power, and the modules scale it up. Because it is one block, you can put a farm in a cave or under a roof.
You will need#
Crafting Table
Crafting Table
Crafting Table
Step by step#
- Place the Aquifer in the middle of the field. Set it level with the farmland, or one block above it. Irrigation reaches farmland level with the machine and one below; Lumen reaches plants level with it and one above. Either position covers both, because the plants sit one block above their soil.
- Fit Irrigation Modules. Open the Aquifer. Each module has its own slot and they stack, up to 4. Every farmland block in range counts as watered, as if a water block were beside it. The Aquifer also sets the moisture of everything in range to full every second, so freshly tilled soil darkens at once.
- Fit Lumen Modules. Crops in range grow as if a torch lit them, and each module adds 50% growth speed. No light blocks are placed. Make sure Grow lights is on in the Configuration tab.
- Till and plant. Till farmland out to the edge of the area, and plant it. The machine's glow tells you the lights are on.
How big a field you get#
Range is the same in all four directions and covers a square centred on the Aquifer. The first module reaches as far as a water block does. Each extra one adds 50% of that.
| Modules of each kind | Reach | Square | Growth speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 blocks | 9 × 9 | 1.5× |
| 2 | 6 blocks | 13 × 13 | 2× |
| 3 | 8 blocks | 17 × 17 | 2.5× |
| 4 | 10 blocks | 21 × 21 | 3× |
The growth column is for Lumen Modules; Irrigation only sets reach. The boost is the same for every plant in range, so a bigger area costs nothing in speed. A field of 21 by 21 grows as fast as one of 9 by 9.
Doing more with it#
- Light without water. A Voltaic Cell takes Lumen Modules too, up to 4, and lights crops the same way. Use one where water already exists.
- Night and caves. An Ecotone stops at nightfall without a Lumen Module of its own, and the Aquifer's lights do not help it. Fit the module in the Ecotone.
- Extra water. The Aquifer is also a water source for the rest of your base. Pipe it into the Ecotone's port, and raise its tier kit if you need more than a trickle. The base tier makes 250 mB every tick.
- Harvest and replant. A field this fast is worth automating; a hopper line takes the harvest, or an Ecotone does the harvesting for you.
Pitfalls#
- Different module counts, different areas. Irrigation and Lumen each size their own area. Fit the same number of each, or one will cover more ground than the other.
- New plants take a few seconds. The Aquifer looks for plants that can still grow every few seconds, and mature crops drop out of its list. A freshly planted seed may wait a moment before it joins the boost.
- Irrigation only waters farmland. Plants that grow on sand or that need water beside them are not helped by it; Lumen still speeds them if they can grow.
- Redstone stops both. A signal that disables the Aquifer turns off irrigation and lights together. The Grow lights switch turns off the lights alone.
- Height matters. Farmland or plants more than a block away vertically are outside the area. Keep the field flat.
- Nothing to grow, nothing happens. With no plant that can still grow, the lights sleep. That is normal, and it costs nothing.