Macrotastics Gardening Questions
Magicmoon:
I just completed my first round of gardening from planting to harvest, using Macrotastics and the fantastic Garden Signs. The garden is outside, not in a greenhouse. (Not my first gardening attempt, just my first one that used Macrotastics from start to finish).
My setup was two 3x4 garden plots. Each plot was subdivided with Room Dividers to allow 3 squares of planting for each vegetable type with a square leftover for the Sign. Macrotastics had no difficulty ordering the Sims to do the initial planting. At that time, my Sims could only plant strawberries and tomatoes, so I had all the signs set to either strawberries or tomatoes. After they learned how to do the other crops and had harvested the original plantings, I changed some of the signs to the new crops so that there were 3 squares available to each of the 6 crop types.
The time was mid-summer when the harvest was started. Even though they kept working on the garden until all of it was harvested, they never fertilized or replanted the empty spots. I found out that I was out of compost, but had plenty of money to use store bought fertilizer.
After about 24 Sim hours, I got nervous and manually instructed a Sim to fertilize the plots. I waited until the next morning, but still no planting, so I told them to plant manually. This second harvest was ready on the first day of Winter. I started thinking, somewhere in the Maxis tips or something, I saw a blurb about some plants doing better when planted in different seasons and that I should experiment.
So did the Sims fail to replant because they were waiting for a specific season to plant where the plants would grow better? Did I jump the gun by going in manually? Should I just wait until they plant on their own? Do they only plant one harvest's worth per year outdoors? Or did something else go wrong and I need to do something different?
The Sims that were doing the gardening had sufficient badges to plant all the plants on the signs, and had no difficulty when instructed to plant them manually.
A few more questions:
What is the radiance of effectiveness for the ladybug houses? I know that with anti-lag I can have as many as I want, but how many are actually needed? Are garden sprinklers needed or recommended in conjunction with Macrotastics style gardening? Do grow lights do anything for orchard trees? Does keeping the 'sunlight' garden lamps on your plants at night help in any way other than providing light? When are grow lamps actually needed? Are they only useful for Plant Sims? Does the scarecrow do anything useful for your plants? I don't exactly have a problem with crows eating my crops. Does receiving a reward from the Garden Society do anything useful for your crops or Sims besides fulfilling that particular want if it is rolled?
jsalemi:
Quote from: magicmoon on 2007 August 20, 19:19:32
A few more questions:
What is the radiance of effectiveness for the ladybug houses? I know that with anti-lag I can have as many as I want, but how many are actually needed? Are garden sprinklers needed or recommended in conjunction with Macrotastics style gardening? Do grow lights do anything for orchard trees? Does keeping the 'sunlight' garden lamps on your plants at night help in any way other than providing light? When are grow lamps actually needed? Are they only useful for Plant Sims? Does the scarecrow do anything useful for your plants? I don't exactly have a problem with crows eating my crops. Does receiving a reward from the Garden Society do anything useful for your crops or Sims besides fulfilling that particular want if it is rolled?
1) I think it's 2 or 3 tiles in each direction around the ladybug house -- I usually put one between every two trees, and that seems ok.
2) Macrotastic's garden includes the sims watering the plants, so unless you have a really big garden with only one sim tending it, you probably don't need the sprinklers.
3) Grow lamps are for indoor gardening (and Plant Sims) -- you can have a garden in a 'sun room' with a regular roof, or on the first floor of a multi-story house, and the grow lamps will make sure the plants get enough light.
4) No, doesn't do anything for the plants, but have a sim go over and view it for a while -- it 'comes to life' and scares them. :)
5) Don't know. :P
kuronue:
Joining the garden club gives you a discount on fertilizer/seeds.
nataku:
What garden signs?
J. M. Pescado:
Quote from: magicmoon on 2007 August 20, 19:19:32
So did the Sims fail to replant because they were waiting for a specific season to plant where the plants would grow better? Did I jump the gun by going in manually? Should I just wait until they plant on their own? Do they only plant one harvest's worth per year outdoors? Or did something else go wrong and I need to do something different?
Macrotastics doesn't replant without the use of an unreleased accessory that is in the test directory, gpsign, which allows you to designate what fields are for what. While plants gain a minor bonus for being planted or harvested in a "correct" season, the benefit gained does not outweigh the drawbacks of simply not doing anything.
Quote from: magicmoon on 2007 August 20, 19:19:32
What is the radiance of effectiveness for the ladybug houses? I know that with anti-lag I can have as many as I want, but how many are actually needed?
I'll dig up the numbers if I remember.
Quote from: magicmoon on 2007 August 20, 19:19:32
Are garden sprinklers needed or recommended in conjunction with Macrotastics style gardening?
They are not necessary, but Macrotastics can detect when they exist and will not unnecessarily water if they do.
Quote from: magicmoon on 2007 August 20, 19:19:32
Do grow lights do anything for orchard trees? Does keeping the 'sunlight' garden lamps on your plants at night help in any way other than providing light? When are grow lamps actually needed? Are they only useful for Plant Sims?
Plants need a "sun" source, either by being outside or in a greenhouse, or by having a sunlamp. Sunlamps do not provide any benefit over the above.
Quote from: magicmoon on 2007 August 20, 19:19:32
Does the scarecrow do anything useful for your plants? I don't exactly have a problem with crows eating my crops.
It looks neat? There are no crows, so it has no physical effect.
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