Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Smoorfi]

So, not completely fresh to DF but I'm not swimming in experience either. My green is still showing but regardless, I've got a bit of an issue with subterranean farming.

The crux of my issue is that I'm trying to make a farm 1 z-level below the surface, irrigating it with a bucket barrage, and then closing the area off with walls on the surface, and flooring on top of that. I expected that seeing as it's fully enclosed I could plant some plump helmets, continuing to have fun on my volcano.

The issue is that my farmers just aren't going anywhere near the farm.
They only have farming as well food hauling enabled, the plump helmet spawn are not forbidden, the farm is on muddied soil, and there's an open path to the farm.

I have noticed that the farm has above-ground crops available for planting. Thinking that perhaps DF didn't like the door in my small hut, I constructed floors on the channels that I had created and removed the zoning (instead of deactivating). The plot remains unchanged: above-ground crops are still available for planting.

I'm not exactly certain what I'm doing wrong, but it'd be great if someone could help me out!

[Brisk]

then closing the area off with walls on the surface, and flooring on top of that

there's your problem. once a tile is exposed to the evil sunlight it is forever Above-ground. putting a roof changes nothing. it has seen the open sky and can never forget.

but seriously, you just need to go down another level to dig out the farm. hit k to see the status of a tile.

[Smoorfi]

Bah, I was hoping it wouldn't be something like that: another level down is rock, no more soil!

Would it be feasible to first construct the housing and THEN make the channels?

[MonkeyHead]

1) use a water lock... i set up a 7 x 7 room to flood with a 3x3 water chamber from a suitable river or pond... i like squares. risk of fun if you are not used to controlled flooding yet.

2) Z = 0 is above ground. on Z = -1, dig a room, and channel to the layer below (Z = -2). Designate the channel as a pond, muddying Z = -2. needs buckets and time consuming, but safe unless there are zombie carp or suchlike.

[Smoorfi]

I was hoping to avoid reservoirs... I tried them out before, only to have my floodgates not close (from what I assume is due to mud underneath them). One dwarf drowned, I didn't realise it in time, so I didn't forbid his corpse and well... Lots of fun was had.

I'm on top of a volcano anyways - I don't have a steady source of water yet - buckets with a small murky pool is working out so far, it's just a matter of getting my dwarves to plant some crops.

[twilightdusk]

Bah, I was hoping it wouldn't be something like that: another level down is rock, no more soil!

For the moment, soil only matters for above ground farming. Underground crops dont care about surface as long as it's been muddied with water.

As for that above-ground plot you have though, set some dwarves to plant gathering so you can get some seeds to make use of it, above ground plants are nothing to scoff at.

[Smoorfi]

For the moment, soil only matters for above ground farming. Underground crops dont care about surface as long as it's been muddied with water.

As for that above-ground plot you have though, set some dwarves to plant gathering so you can get some seeds to make use of it, above ground plants are nothing to scoff at.

Oh perfect! I wasn't aware of that, thanks!

Wild Strawberries have been set. Hopefully my dwarves will get in gear soon

[CapnUrist]

Yes, many of my forts have subsisted almost entirely on strawberries and prickleberry wine.

Usually what I do for a starting underground farm is something like this:

Code: [Select]

Z0 (surface)
.......     . = ground
.......     X = wall
.......     o = empty space (channeled)
>......     ~ = farmplot
.......     </> = up/down stairs
.......
.......

Z-1
XXXXXXX
X.....X
X.o.o.X
<.....X
X.o.o.X
X.....X
XXXXXXX

Z-2
XXXXXXX
X~~~~~X
X~~~~~X
.~~~~~X
X~~~~~X
X~~~~~X
XXXXXXX
Designate the open spaces in z-1 as ponds to fill, and with enough dwarves and buckets and a nearby water source the plot is soaked pretty quick.

[Smoorfi]

Ah yeah. I read that strategy up on the wiki but your explanation helped.

Thanks for everyone's assistance: I was able to get some mushrooms growing within my volcano!

[twilightdusk]

Happy to help. Enjoy your stable food source.

[mrbaggins]

How many buckets/dwarves does it need to get that to work? I usually take 3 on embark, will that do it?

[bowdown2q]

now and then I just cheat and open up dffluids. It's cheap, i know, but it's usualy for a fort where I'm planning on using it for something else - or i already have like 80 farms. only prob is you have to cut out a level above or else the water wont create mud - just be wet. it has to fall (for some reason.) same for ponds, i believe.

[Scarpa]

If I have a nearby murky pool that's less than 16 or so tiles in area I just dig out a big area next to it, breach it, then wall it back up. Easy peasy!

[EnDSchultz]

barring that, as long as I have a water source, I just dig out one offset square (IE, in the corner) of my farming area as a channel from above so I can pour water into that. Naturally, the water will flow to cover the rest of the farming area but only that one tile will be exposed to light.

[Shoku]

I was thinking that if you needed to very quickly irrigate a little patch for underground crops and REALLY wanted it just below the surface you could channel out one tile and dig out a 3x3 space under it. Then if you place a wall in the middle you should be able to place a ring shaped farm plot. This would only let one dwarf bucket at a time but I guess you could construct some up/down stairs next to it and place pond zones at each level to make it reasonable to muddy larger plots like this. In a 7x7 you could have normal 3x3 plots.