Hello everyone! Professor Moolinda Wu here and I'm excited to tell you all about a new feature in the Spiral:
Gardening! To get started on your path to a greener thumb,
come visit me in my classroom in Ravenwood if you are level 12 or higher.
Students at Ravenwood can plant and grow amazing plants in their Dorms and Castles! Wizards of all schools can garden, so my hope is that every student will learn the joy of shepherding new life!
A plant's journey of life begins as a seed. There are many types of seeds, each with a different destiny. With enough energy, you can prepare soil of your choice in your Castle (if you have one) or a planter in your dorm. Then you can place the seed into the readied soil. After a time, it will begin to grow. You can shepherd its growth through spells and other means of caring for it, creating an environment for it to thrive.
After you've planted your seed, it starts to grow, from seed to seedling, young plant, mature plant to elder. You can use a number of helpful spells to usher it along as it grows, keeping it healthy and happy. Once you have planted a seedling, either in a plot or in a pot, it cannot be moved.
This is a
seedling, the youngest phase of life for a plant. You will need Energy to plant a seed in a planter or the ground. After a seed is planted, you can use plant growth spells on it to help it flourish.
Plants require some things to thrive and survive: water, sunshine, pollination, magic and even music.
This is a
young plant, in its next stage of life after seedling.
You can observe your plant's growth visually and you can move your cursor over your plant to Inspect it. This provides you with information about your plant's health and needs. You can also affect your plant by using some simple spells:
The
Plow spell allows you to remove a plant or dirt pile, if you wish to do so. The
Revive spell allows you to transform a dead plant into a new seedling, ready to grow once more.
This is a
mature plant, in the fullness of its growth.
When a plant becomes mature, it can be harvested. You can harvest a plant by interacting with it.
Each type of plant yields a different harvest: reagents, pet snacks, gold, treasure cards, or more seeds!
You can harvest from a plant as long as it's in its mature stage of life. When a plant is in its mature stage that doesn’t mean that you can harvest it right away or that it’s continually harvestable. It means that once every day or so it will be harvestable so long as it’s in that mature state.
This is an
elder plant, the final stage of a plant's life cycle. Many plants won't reach this stage!
An elder plant can be harvested one final time, with much greater possible rewards.
Once an elder plant is harvested, it disappears and cannot be revived.
How do I Harvest?
Only plants that have reached the Mature level can be harvested. Plants that have needs or bad pests cannot be harvested, so make sure you take care of your plants first! Once they're free of needs or bad pests, simply close your Gardening panel and approach the plant. A "Press X" option will appear and you will harvest items from the plant! Once a plant has reached the Elder stage, it can only be harvested one last time before it disappears.
I'm sad to say that gardening isn't all nurturing and happiness. Plants can be endangered by some very real threats.
This plant is
wilting. It will die before too long if it is not taken care of.
Plants can die if their needs are not met, if they are in surrounded by things they dislike, or if they are killed by pests. Plants have likes and dislikes, things that encourage or discourage their growth.
A plant's likes are things it enjoyes being near. These can include other types of plants or gardening items. A plant will flourish if it is near things that it likes, while things it dislikes will cause it to become unhealthy. An important part of gardening is learning how to arrange your plants, and create a healthy garden for them.
This plant is
dead. Now all that can be done is to plow it over, or to revive it.
The greatest threat to plants are pests. Pests can infest a plant and hinder its growth.
If pests are not eliminated, eventually the plant will begin to wilt and die.
When a plant is infested by pests, it cannot be harvested.
To eliminate pests, you must use pest fighting spells. To eliminate a pest, the spell must be of high enough rank. You can purchase pest fighting spells from vendors throughout the Spiral, or even win them as treasures. It's a sorry state to see plants doing so poorly, but it's important to know what risks there are when gardening.
