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[mwoody450]

I have some farms in sand on the first level of my fortress which have been doing pretty well.  However, they're starting to have fertility problems, since I don't have a decent supply of potash (all furnaces are pumping out charcoal right now).  My question, then: will flooding these with some shallow water improve them at all, or is that only useful for a one-time muddying of bare rock to make a farm possible?

[doomlichen]

Farms can have fertility problems? I never knew that, wow.

[mwoody450]

Well, I can't say for sure they can have fertility problems.  But some crops (and in some cases, all crops for a certain season) are going red and becoming unselectable, so I assumed it was a problem with the soil.  I mean, if you can fertilize a field, it stands to reason choosing to NOT fertilize it would have some effect, right?

[Mephisto]

I get that when the end of the season is nearing. My guess is that if you plant more of that crop, it won't have time to grow before the next season hits.

[Align]

quote:Originally posted by mwoody450:
<STRONG>Well, I can't say for sure they can have fertility problems.  But some crops (and in some cases, all crops for a certain season) are going red and becoming unselectable, so I assumed it was a problem with the soil.  I mean, if you can fertilize a field, it stands to reason choosing to NOT fertilize it would have some effect, right?</STRONG>

Crops take a certain amount of time to grow, depending on the type. They also only grow in particular seasons, except for year-round crops like plump helmet.
If a crop is redded out in the farm settings, that means it doesn't have enough time to finish growing before a season it cannot grow in starts. So it's not a fertility issue.

[Paul]

Potash just makes the plants growing there give higher yields. This is nice for making alcohol, since it gives more alcohol per barrel. Otherwise, it's not really necessary.

[mwoody450]

Ahhhh I see, I see, thanks for the info.  I need to rethink my farming schedule, perhaps.

[Align]

I'm no longer so sure about what I said; not long ago I saw plump helmet redded out, despite it being able to grow at any time..

[Jreengus]

quote:Originally posted by Align:
<STRONG>I'm no longer so sure about what I said; not long ago I saw plump helmet redded out, despite it being able to grow at any time..</STRONG>

were you planting different crops next season? that would have the same effect as entering a season were that plant wont grow

[Align]

...How could I plant different crops NEXT season?

[Jreengus]

use a,b,c,d (spring summer autum winter) to set crops for different seasons

[Align]

Ah. But no, no planning ahead was done.

[Valdemar]

quote:Originally posted by Align:
<STRONG>I'm no longer so sure about what I said; not long ago I saw plump helmet redded out, despite it being able to grow at any time..</STRONG>

The problem is that it's late winter, and the game doesn't realize that the plants could grow through the new year. If there's less time left in the year than the growing time of the crop, it won't let you plant it, even if it could grow in spring.

[Nogert]

I'm sorry, but is there any special button for making the dwarves fertilize the farms? I made tons of potash but the dwarves aren't using it. I tried messing with the farm settings, but that didn't work. Is there a special profession or something?

[Durnheist]

The farm land has to be muddy in order to fertilize it.