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Author Topic: My farmers hate rope reed  (Read 3811 times)

jcnorris00

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My farmers hate rope reed
« on: October 27, 2011, 04:31:21 pm »

I got lucky with a herbalist, who brought in a few rope reeds one summer.  This made me happy, because there are no elves for some reason and the humans never brought any rope reed seeds.  I brewed up some river spirits and set up a garden plot to grow rope reeds.  About a year passed before I realized that my dwarves weren't planting any rope reed.  I've got nine seeds, and they're not forbidden.  My dwarves will happily move them from one stockpile to the next if I tell them to.  The plot is set to grow rope reed year round.  I've tried dumping/reclaiming the seeds.  I've tried destroying the plot at creating a new one.  My planters just refuse to plant the seeds.  What gives?
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peskyninja

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Re: My farmers hate rope reed
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2011, 04:49:59 pm »

I have this problem with aboveground farms they're always the last ones to be farmed.
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Forumite

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Re: My farmers hate rope reed
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2011, 04:50:29 pm »

I might have the solution. Rope Reed need wet soil, I think that means that there has to be water within a short distance from the farm plot. I´m not sure, because I´ve grown rope reed about 10 away from the murky pool.
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tommy521

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Re: My farmers hate rope reed
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2011, 04:57:42 pm »

I might have the solution. Rope Reed need wet soil, I think that means that there has to be water within a short distance from the farm plot. I´m not sure, because I´ve grown rope reed about 10 away from the murky pool.

I've never had to have any water to grow plants as far as I can remember but... I'd make sure this is right before doing some irrigation as it can lead to problems death of idiotic dwarves Fun. :P

Girlinhat

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Re: My farmers hate rope reed
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2011, 05:07:26 pm »

I might have the solution. Rope Reed need wet soil, I think that means that there has to be water within a short distance from the farm plot. I´m not sure, because I´ve grown rope reed about 10 away from the murky pool.
Completely wrong, glad to say.

An "above ground" farm needs soil OR mud.  I channel out a layer of soil, putting the farm at Z-1 from the surface so that I can get a nice 10x10 plot in the first soil layer, then cover it with floor on Z0 because the sunlight has already tainted the tiles, it doesn't need constant light.  If you're building on stone (like you dug past soil) or on constructions (you floored over a part of the surface) then you need to apply water to generate mud, and then farmland.  Once this is done, you're golden.  Soil layers do NOT need any mud, though!

Also, I do almost exclusively above-ground crops, so I don't know if dwarves do underground first or if they do them randomly.  Chances are that your farmer is living underground and just happens to be closer to the underground plot.  Try assigning more farmers and/or wait for the one to get higher skill.

Necro910

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Re: My farmers hate rope reed
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2011, 05:09:09 pm »

It's because your dwarves are right-wing  :P

They Got Leader

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Re: My farmers hate rope reed
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2011, 06:58:52 pm »

I might have the solution. Rope Reed need wet soil, I think that means that there has to be water within a short distance from the farm plot. I´m not sure, because I´ve grown rope reed about 10 away from the murky pool.
Completely wrong, glad to say.

An "above ground" farm needs soil OR mud.  I channel out a layer of soil, putting the farm at Z-1 from the surface so that I can get a nice 10x10 plot in the first soil layer, then cover it with floor on Z0 because the sunlight has already tainted the tiles, it doesn't need constant light.  If you're building on stone (like you dug past soil) or on constructions (you floored over a part of the surface) then you need to apply water to generate mud, and then farmland.  Once this is done, you're golden.  Soil layers do NOT need any mud, though!

Also, I do almost exclusively above-ground crops, so I don't know if dwarves do underground first or if they do them randomly.  Chances are that your farmer is living underground and just happens to be closer to the underground plot.  Try assigning more farmers and/or wait for the one to get higher skill.
She is right on this, they are going for the shortest pathing distance, this being your underground farms first.

Use above method to make a farm and be patient. Or get more farmers.
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Quietust

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Re: My farmers hate rope reed
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2011, 07:08:59 pm »

My experience is that dwarves tend farm plots according to the order in which they were built (as they do with most other things), which is either in the same order or in the opposite order.
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jcnorris00

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Re: My farmers hate rope reed
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2011, 12:52:11 pm »

I had many small plots, mostly above ground, and all of them were completely planted except for the rope reed plot.  My four legendary planters were just sitting around.
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Newbunkle

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Re: My farmers hate rope reed
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2011, 01:21:45 pm »

I'm not sure which plants are which, but I know some of them need to be in a certain environment. If your fortress covers multiple biomes, check to see which one your farm is in. I know I've had one of my farms rendered useless because I built it in the wrong place.

Another thing, it might be worth checking to see if the seeds are forbidden inside the bag. I've just had a facepalm moment in my kitchen because I mass-forbade the stockpile items to force them to mix some alcohol with some quarry bush leaves. Mass-forbidding will forbid the bags and the contents seperately. Later I tried using look [k] and claim [f] to unforbid them, but it only worked on the bag. It wasn't until I got frustrated and double checked that I realised the leaves inside were still {}'d.
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CapnUrist

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Re: My farmers hate rope reed
« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2011, 04:21:04 pm »

I'm not sure which plants are which, but I know some of them need to be in a certain environment. If your fortress covers multiple biomes, check to see which one your farm is in. I know I've had one of my farms rendered useless because I built it in the wrong place.

Another thing, it might be worth checking to see if the seeds are forbidden inside the bag. I've just had a facepalm moment in my kitchen because I mass-forbade the stockpile items to force them to mix some alcohol with some quarry bush leaves. Mass-forbidding will forbid the bags and the contents seperately. Later I tried using look [k] and claim [f] to unforbid them, but it only worked on the bag. It wasn't until I got frustrated and double checked that I realised the leaves inside were still {}'d.

Farms are unaffected by biome; you can grow above-ground crops on the stone below a glacier as long as you've muddied it and exposed it to sunlight.

To make sure your seeds are not forbidden, use the status screen, and check the stocks menu, looking at seeds specifically.

Finally, make sure that rope reed is enabled for all seasons; the season may have changed and you may have forgotten to make a particular season for planting (it happens to us all).
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