Hello! i have been gardening for years now, and i now would like to post a guide how i do it. this should save you plenty of energy and time. Here we go, and if you have anything else to add, or you disagree, feel free to express yourself!
1. Start out small. don't push yourself! start out with basic plants like; Dandelions, and boom shrooms. Don't have too many or too little. 2. Build plots. Recommended if using multi-plant spells (what are plots?) plots are small sections of gardens with any plant, or specific plants, specific being the same plants, or plants that have similar needs. with this, some plants won't bother other plants, such as stinkweed, when having a patch of at least 6 could give you 2000+ gold weekly. If this is done correctly, plants will need the same needs (ex. rain, music, pollination, etc.) and shouldn't cost too much energy. 3. Buy necessary decorations Gnomes and other items are important to some plants, as they help them grow, get a few. 4.Don't place plants in random locations. doing this may waste lots of energy and time, like i said before, build plots, and put all plants together, except the ones that harm other plants. placing plants that like each other together is a good idea. 5.Focus on onegarden only. Multiple gardens waste time and energy, have one garden that will satisfy your needs, and tickle your fancy. 6. Check regularly checking 2-3 times a day (every 5 or 6 hours) could save you from worrying about your plants tomorrow, especially if you have a lot of plants that have many needs. 7.Sell your stuff at the Bazaar. (unless you want it) Being the entrepreneur you are, you should know that regular stores pay poorly for your stuff, the Bazaar however, buys it from you for a good price, and somebody else can have a chance to get it.
And, that's how i farm, i hope you have a better experience farming! -James Skullheart lvl 43
Thanks for sharing your experience with fellow gardeners.
You provide some great advice about starting small, in one area, without creating multiple gardens in random locations.
This becomes even more critical as folks get their garden level past 10, and moving to a higher level feels as fast as the way paint dries, snails crawl, and grass grows.
Thanks for sharing your experience with fellow gardeners.
You provide some great advice about starting small, in one area, without creating multiple gardens in random locations.
This becomes even more critical as folks get their garden level past 10, and moving to a higher level feels as fast as the way paint dries, snails crawl, and grass grows.
Hi Tyler! thanks for replying, I'm glad to help some people out!
#6 is actually bad advice. Don't check your garden that much, it will only increase your needs and cost you more energy. As long as you leave your plants with no needs when you log out, your plants will not develop needs until you visit them again, so there is no need to visit between Harvest times. Stay out of your house unless you are there to take care of the plants.
#6 is actually bad advice. Don't check your garden that much, it will only increase your needs and cost you more energy. As long as you leave your plants with no needs when you log out, your plants will not develop needs until you visit them again, so there is no need to visit between Harvest times. Stay out of your house unless you are there to take care of the plants.
Along with Seethe's point, which is a good one, have a separate house for gardening, preferably the Red Barn Farm.
Do not set your garden house as your default home. Instead, connect your garden home to your default home with teleporters. That way you can still port home whenever you want to change worlds fast, and you can decorate and do all your fun housing stuff, separate from gardening, without triggering plant needs. (However, if your house is on the tour, or you have lots of friends, you might want to leave the teleporters out, as the other visitors may trigger needs. So you would have to choose your garden house in backpack to go to it then. I am not sure on this point though...)
Plant needs are only triggered when you enter the house where your plants are. So if you keep your garden house separate from your main house, then you are sure to only visit your garden house when you have full energy and are prepared to care for the needs of your plants.
With regard to points 2&3, it helps to go to the Wizard101central wiki and look up the actual attributes of your plants, before planning your plots and getting the "liked" items. This will eliminate trial and error and let you plan wisely. Here is the link: http://www.wizard101central.com/wiki/Category:Seeds
#6 is actually bad advice. Don't check your garden that much, it will only increase your needs and cost you more energy. As long as you leave your plants with no needs when you log out, your plants will not develop needs until you visit them again, so there is no need to visit between Harvest times. Stay out of your house unless you are there to take care of the plants.
that's why you should check it every few hours... I've thought about that, as long you're not like a plant santa claus who comes in 8 times a day, it's fine. thanks for replying! and for everybody else too!
that's why you should check it every few hours... I've thought about that, as long you're not like a plant santa claus who comes in 8 times a day, it's fine. thanks for replying! and for everybody else too!
It's why you shouldn't check it more than one every 12 hours or so.
that's why you should check it every few hours... I've thought about that, as long you're not like a plant santa claus who comes in 8 times a day, it's fine. thanks for replying! and for everybody else too!
No, that is why you should not check it every few hours. You should only go to your garden home to check plants when you have full energy and can make sure all plant needs are met.
Checking every few hours often means you come home without full energy, and that makes plant care a problem. This is especially true as your garden grows in size, to where you need to use the large area spells that use a lot of energy. If you go home too often, you will have to buy energy to make up for the energy drain you have put on yourself by having to tend needs too often.
You can leave your garden alone for several days even, so long as when you do come to check on it you can care for all of the plant needs. Though I normally check my garden once daily, I have at times had to go away for several days at a time, and my plants have not really suffered for it, so long as when I come back I am able to tend to all the needs my plants have before I leave my house again.
Again, the trigger for plant needs occurring, is when you come to your house. So the more often you come to your house, the more often you will trigger the plant needs happening. It is actually counter-productive to check your garden too often.
I started Gardening when I was in Krokotopia. I fought the Nirini Sentrys in the Royal Hall. I used mostly used Pink Dandelions until I reached Rank 5. Then I used Alligator Pear Tree seeds. I collected the Alligator Pear Tree seeds in Krokotopia from Ice Weavers also found in the Royal Hall. I already Rank 5 when I started to grow Alligator Pear and I planted 4 seeds. Since it took approximately 20 hours between each harvest per plant, those 4 trees netted me 1200 XP per harvest. The net total of gardening experience I gained from those 4 Alligator Pears was 22,800. I went from Rank 5 to Rank 10 on those 4 trees.
Since it took approximately 20 hours of growth in the mature stage to gain a harvest to Elder Stage, I got 10 harvests per plant, netting me a total of Pink Dandelion XP (20 Mature xp X 10 harvests = 200 Mature xp) + (200 Elder xp) = 400 total xp
From the Alligator Pear trees, the experience is laid out like this: Per Plant: (300 Mature xp X 19 harvests = 5700 Mature xp) + (3000 Elder xp) = 10700 total xp
***A Special Note***: Once you get your Rank 1 Garden Spells, there is no reason to get the higher Garden Spells until you have the energy to really use them and the multiple plants to use them on. I bought my higher rank spells but I rarely ever used them. I mainly used my Rank 1 Garden Spells on all my plants.
Garden Ranks Rank 1 Novice XP 20 needed Rank 2 Neophyte XP 100 needed
Rank 3 Apprentice XP 200 needed Rank 4 Initiate XP 500 needed Rank 5 Intermediate XP 1,000 needed Rank 6 Journeyman XP 2,000 needed Rank 7 Expert XP 4,000 needed Rank 8 Adept XP 7,000 needed Rank 9 Master XP 11,000 needed Rank 10 Grandmaster XP 160,000 needed
Prior to reaching Verdant Gardener, I visited my garden once a day. I used energy gear that gave me 151 energy, which worked perfectly, as my most prolific plant was Key Limes. Stacking plots is very helpful, too. My Red Barn Farmhouse was my gardening house, which added an automatic like to all the plants. I agree that you should only have one house for gardening; having gardens spread out will waste both time and energy.
My advice is to stick with plants that give high xp at elder, but do not attract high level pests. Couch Potatoes, Key Limes, and Evil Magma Peas were my go-to choices, and they worked well for me. I did have a rather large group of White Tiger Lilies, and while they drop some amazing things, the pests (level 4 and 5) make them high maintenance.
wait... no, check your garden every 10 hours, if you can do it of course. not checking for a month, eventually logging back on, they will die. please give me mercy, i hate arguments.
o...k.... another edit..... we all have opinions, and I'm doing fine with this one. please, if you are going to bombard me with corrections, at least state that it's your opinion... If you show any activity in W101, it triggers needs, so after a month or two, your plants will be weak. i respect your comments, but they weren't very nice in my opinion.... a'ight, thanks for reading.
o...k.... another edit..... we all have opinions, and I'm doing fine with this one. please, if you are going to bombard me with corrections, at least state that it's your opinion... If you show any activity in W101, it triggers needs, so after a month or two, your plants will be weak. i respect your comments, but they weren't very nice in my opinion.... a'ight, thanks for reading.
Hey James,
Sorry if you felt bombarded with unkind critique -- that was not the intent. Nobody here is trying to be mean. Quite the opposite -- we are trying to clarify and help. Most of your advice is generally good advice. And the initiative to offer helpful advice is much appreciated. Kudos to you for starting the thread.
But you are mistaken in the advice about frequency of visits, and what triggers plant needs. Letting you know that mistake could actually be helpful information that improves your gardening and that of others -- it is not being unkind.
One of the key points is exactly the point about what triggers the check on plant needs and how often to visit your garden. The check for plant needs is triggered when you go to the house where your plants are.That is the trigger, going to the house -- not any activity anywhere in W101.
If you leave for a month and come back, yes, it is likely that the check will reveal neglected plants that you need to revive. But you can leave for several days and the garden will be fine. I just had a 5 day trip out of state away from my computer, and when I came back, my garden had needs, sure, but it was fine and I could tend to the needs. My daughter also left her garden for more than a week, and it too was fine. She was playing the game during this time, but not gardening. It was still fine. What is important is nothow often you visit the garden, but rather, that when you do visit you come prepared to care for the garden, with sufficient energy to tend to plant needs.
Personally, I hope my comments here help you and others who read the thread. Again, I am not trying to put you down, and if my earlier comments seemed that way I apologize. Thanks for posting, thanks for starting the thread, and happy gardening!
Sorry if you felt bombarded with unkind critique -- that was not the intent. Nobody here is trying to be mean. Quite the opposite -- we are trying to clarify and help. Most of your advice is generally good advice. And the initiative to offer helpful advice is much appreciated. Kudos to you for starting the thread.
But you are mistaken in the advice about frequency of visits, and what triggers plant needs. Letting you know that mistake could actually be helpful information that improves your gardening and that of others -- it is not being unkind.
One of the key points is exactly the point about what triggers the check on plant needs and how often to visit your garden. The check for plant needs is triggered when you go to the house where your plants are.That is the trigger, going to the house -- not any activity anywhere in W101.
If you leave for a month and come back, yes, it is likely that the check will reveal neglected plants that you need to revive. But you can leave for several days and the garden will be fine. I just had a 5 day trip out of state away from my computer, and when I came back, my garden had needs, sure, but it was fine and I could tend to the needs. My daughter also left her garden for more than a week, and it too was fine. She was playing the game during this time, but not gardening. It was still fine. What is important is nothow often you visit the garden, but rather, that when you do visit you come prepared to care for the garden, with sufficient energy to tend to plant needs.
Personally, I hope my comments here help you and others who read the thread. Again, I am not trying to put you down, and if my earlier comments seemed that way I apologize. Thanks for posting, thanks for starting the thread, and happy gardening!
hi! thanks for posting! i understand, this is how i always gardened.... i should try your way too. thanks, and good hunting.
Sorry if you felt bombarded with unkind critique -- that was not the intent. Nobody here is trying to be mean. Quite the opposite -- we are trying to clarify and help. Most of your advice is generally good advice. And the initiative to offer helpful advice is much appreciated. Kudos to you for starting the thread.
But you are mistaken in the advice about frequency of visits, and what triggers plant needs. Letting you know that mistake could actually be helpful information that improves your gardening and that of others -- it is not being unkind.
One of the key points is exactly the point about what triggers the check on plant needs and how often to visit your garden. The check for plant needs is triggered when you go to the house where your plants are.That is the trigger, going to the house -- not any activity anywhere in W101.
If you leave for a month and come back, yes, it is likely that the check will reveal neglected plants that you need to revive. But you can leave for several days and the garden will be fine. I just had a 5 day trip out of state away from my computer, and when I came back, my garden had needs, sure, but it was fine and I could tend to the needs. My daughter also left her garden for more than a week, and it too was fine. She was playing the game during this time, but not gardening. It was still fine. What is important is nothow often you visit the garden, but rather, that when you do visit you come prepared to care for the garden, with sufficient energy to tend to plant needs.
Personally, I hope my comments here help you and others who read the thread. Again, I am not trying to put you down, and if my earlier comments seemed that way I apologize. Thanks for posting, thanks for starting the thread, and happy gardening!
I do not believe that is correct. Logging in with that character will retain the normal gardening cycle, regardless of whether you visit the house or not. However, if you do not login it will allow you garden less frequently (providing you don't go on hiatus with pest or needs). When I play over a weekend my plants continue to grow as normal...and I'm not sitting in my garden house, they will start to wilt unless I garden. However, if I do not login to Wizard101 at all, I've been able to go at least four days without gardening and my plants are not wilting.
I believe the OP's intent that if you are going to play throughout the day, you need to check in on your garden regularly.
I do not believe that is correct. Logging in with that character will retain the normal gardening cycle, regardless of whether you visit the house or not. However, if you do not login it will allow you garden less frequently (providing you don't go on hiatus with pest or needs). When I play over a weekend my plants continue to grow as normal...and I'm not sitting in my garden house, they will start to wilt unless I garden. However, if I do not login to Wizard101 at all, I've been able to go at least four days without gardening and my plants are not wilting.
I believe the OP's intent that if you are going to play throughout the day, you need to check in on your garden regularly.
At first I did not believe it either, but it has been verified by other players -- I am not the person who originated this information. I learned it from fan sites and other posters here in the Gardening forum. But it is true -- the trigger is visiting the house where your garden is. It is not just logging on to the game.
That is why you want to keep your garden house separate from your main house -- so you can go home and use the spiral door and put stuff in storage and decorate, etc., separate from gardening. Keep your garden house for gardening only, and only go there when you can care for your plants.
As I said, I have left the garden for days without tending it, and it is fine. My daughter will leave hers for over a week, and it too will be fine. This is even while we are doing other game activities -- my daughter especially will forget to garden for long stretches of time. Her plants used to die a lot -- until we moved her garden to a house other than her main house. Since then, no problem.
Again, you may want to read at least the gardening first link I put in the last post -- the author explains it very well there.
I do not believe that is correct. Logging in with that character will retain the normal gardening cycle, regardless of whether you visit the house or not. However, if you do not login it will allow you garden less frequently (providing you don't go on hiatus with pest or needs). When I play over a weekend my plants continue to grow as normal...and I'm not sitting in my garden house, they will start to wilt unless I garden. However, if I do not login to Wizard101 at all, I've been able to go at least four days without gardening and my plants are not wilting.
I believe the OP's intent that if you are going to play throughout the day, you need to check in on your garden regularly.
Finn is correct. In another thread I posted about my experience with some Deadly Helephant Ears.
In that situation, the last time I had visited my castle was right after they had first progressed to mature. They had needs at the time so I took care of their needs.
I forgot about them for weeks. However I was still playing Wizard101 during that time with all of my wizards on the account, including the one who had this garden.
One day I ported to my castle to drop some stuff off in my bank and I saw all of my plants (that I had completely forgotten about) dancing around in Elder stage.
I have actually somewhat repeated this recently. I had a garden I planted a couple of weeks ago with King Parsley. When the new dungeons were launched last week I started spending my energy on fishing to get all of the new fish, never going to my castles because I didn't have enough energy to garden.
This morning, once I had finally caught the last fish I needed with the wizard that had this garden, I went to my castle and all of my KP's were Elder even though I hadn't done anything with them for over a week, but I was certainly still logging in and playing.
As long as you don't visit your castle, your plants won't wilt or die provided you took care of their needs the last time you visited.
One note, another wizard had KP's that weren't mature yet when I started fishing. Those KP's were stuck on the first level and could not be harvested until a few hours later after I took care of their first set of needs at Mature.
At first I did not believe it either, but it has been verified by other players -- I am not the person who originated this information. I learned it from fan sites and other posters here in the Gardening forum. But it is true -- the trigger is visiting the house where your garden is. It is not just logging on to the game.
That is why you want to keep your garden house separate from your main house -- so you can go home and use the spiral door and put stuff in storage and decorate, etc., separate from gardening. Keep your garden house for gardening only, and only go there when you can care for your plants.
As I said, I have left the garden for days without tending it, and it is fine. My daughter will leave hers for over a week, and it too will be fine. This is even while we are doing other game activities -- my daughter especially will forget to garden for long stretches of time. Her plants used to die a lot -- until we moved her garden to a house other than her main house. Since then, no problem.
Again, you may want to read at least the gardening first link I put in the last post -- the author explains it very well there.
Hmmm, if what you are describing happens to others, it must be a bug for me. Again, my garden still grows as normal, regardless of if I visit the garden house or not. It only slows the progress if I do not login at all.
According to KI's post on the topic previously, it sounds like it is tied to the login, not the house itself.
Hmmm, if what you are describing happens to others, it must be a bug for me. Again, my garden still grows as normal, regardless of if I visit the garden house or not. It only slows the progress if I do not login at all.
According to KI's post on the topic previously, it sounds like it is tied to the login, not the house itself.
I really don't know what might cause this for you then. I have a few "ponderings" that come up though:
First, that post you referenced is fairly old -- it is possible that an update altered the process since then.
Second, do you visit the house where your garden is for purposes other than gardening? Is it set as your primary house so when you push the "go home" button that is where you go? Any trip through the garden house no matter how short is a trigger, whether you actually go to the garden or not.
The other question is, is your garden house set so others go to the house often -- on tour or lots of friends? The author of the first gardening guide in duelist101 above thinks that too may be a trigger.
Finally, have you really tried deliberately leaving the garden house alone for a while, to see what happens? If, for instance, you allow plants to move from the initial stage just seeded to the young stage, not yet mature, with no needs when you leave the house, and then just do not visit the garden house for a few days, you might want to see what happens. The most that should happen, is that they will either stay the same, or progress to the next stage -- mature, or with some needs. They will not move two stages, e.g., bypassing needs to wilted; they will only move one stage, e.g., developing needs or maturing. You might find it a worthwhile experiment.
That is exactly what happened to my daughter the last time -- she had planted EMPs and then left her garden for over a week. When she went home to check all her EMPs were young and healthy, not even any needs yet. And I myself had commandeered her wizard several times in that period to help me with dungeons, so I know we had logged on her account multiple times.
And that also is what Zeke said in his post -- plants only progress one stage at a time. True he did say "login" in the post, but that might have been updated, or it might have been generalized KI talk that did not specify the actual trigger-event once logged-in.
Again, I'm not trying to be argumentative here, I have just found this really helpful info, that set my mind at ease about gardening and not being able to tend plants all the time.
Finn is correct. In another thread I posted about my experience with some Deadly Helephant Ears.
In that situation, the last time I had visited my castle was right after they had first progressed to mature. They had needs at the time so I took care of their needs.
I forgot about them for weeks. However I was still playing Wizard101 during that time with all of my wizards on the account, including the one who had this garden.
One day I ported to my castle to drop some stuff off in my bank and I saw all of my plants (that I had completely forgotten about) dancing around in Elder stage.
I have actually somewhat repeated this recently. I had a garden I planted a couple of weeks ago with King Parsley. When the new dungeons were launched last week I started spending my energy on fishing to get all of the new fish, never going to my castles because I didn't have enough energy to garden.
This morning, once I had finally caught the last fish I needed with the wizard that had this garden, I went to my castle and all of my KP's were Elder even though I hadn't done anything with them for over a week, but I was certainly still logging in and playing.
As long as you don't visit your castle, your plants won't wilt or die provided you took care of their needs the last time you visited.
One note, another wizard had KP's that weren't mature yet when I started fishing. Those KP's were stuck on the first level and could not be harvested until a few hours later after I took care of their first set of needs at Mature.
Let me clarify that I am speaking about wilting. If I garden and remove all pests and needs, then go play another wizard...I can assure you that my garden develops needs and pests in a matter of hours. If I do not login for days, then that timeframe is moved on for days too (like prolonged stasis).
Now, plants moving over into a dead state is different. That has been confirmed by KI that plants will not move into a dead state if you are not logged in and they were not wilted prior (they have never mentioned anything about the house itself). Below is the post from KI about that (and it also indicates that your plants can wilt regardless if you visit the garden house or not). Read it along with the previous link provided.
Regardless of how we see the issue, I believe Finn's earlier advice is best. If you are going to garden, make sure you do so with enough energy to eradicate all pests and needs that has crept up since your last visit, as leaving either pests or needs when you leave will be very bad. For Crowns players, this is usually once a day while members can garden more frequently.
I really don't know what might cause this for you then. I have a few "ponderings" that come up though:
First, that post you referenced is fairly old -- it is possible that an update altered the process since then.
Second, do you visit the house where your garden is for purposes other than gardening? Is it set as your primary house so when you push the "go home" button that is where you go? Any trip through the garden house no matter how short is a trigger, whether you actually go to the garden or not.
The other question is, is your garden house set so others go to the house often -- on tour or lots of friends? The author of the first gardening guide in duelist101 above thinks that too may be a trigger.
Finally, have you really tried deliberately leaving the garden house alone for a while, to see what happens? If, for instance, you allow plants to move from the initial stage just seeded to the young stage, not yet mature, with no needs when you leave the house, and then just do not visit the garden house for a few days, you might want to see what happens. The most that should happen, is that they will either stay the same, or progress to the next stage -- mature, or with some needs. They will not move two stages, e.g., bypassing needs to wilted; they will only move one stage, e.g., developing needs or maturing. You might find it a worthwhile experiment.
That is exactly what happened to my daughter the last time -- she had planted EMPs and then left her garden for over a week. When she went home to check all her EMPs were young and healthy, not even any needs yet. And I myself had commandeered her wizard several times in that period to help me with dungeons, so I know we had logged on her account multiple times.
And that also is what Zeke said in his post -- plants only progress one stage at a time. True he did say "login" in the post, but that might have been updated, or it might have been generalized KI talk that did not specify the actual trigger-event once logged-in.
Again, I'm not trying to be argumentative here, I have just found this really helpful info, that set my mind at ease about gardening and not being able to tend plants all the time.
Ah, your last bit of your post clears up the confusion. I thought you were simply referring to developing needs or pests (which happens regardless if you visit your house or not). Your 22 November post indicated that the "check" occurs when you enter the house, but I've seen the "check" occur while I'm already in the house and I've watched a stage switch before my eyes (and has led to glitches where I cannot harvest). I'm convinced the "check" or trigger is timed, not activated (like the different plant stage cycles themselves, each plant takes longer than others), and they seem to be every 15 mins. or so for the "check" (the plants will disappear for a sec then reappear). However, the stage does not seem to move to the next without visiting in your house.
In other words, you have to visit your house to move to the next stage (good or bad), but not to develop needs or pests (because they are timed, just like the length of the plant itself). You might actually be slowing down your good cycles with the lack of visits.
In your EMP scenario, were they just planted? I too have gone long lengths with Young plants not developing any needs or pests (seedlings do not receive any). It only seems at Mature do they accelerate needs and pests cycles.
However, to answer your questions, I do not visit my house other than to garden and no friends are left and they are not on housing tours. Also, the question about have I left the house for a long time? Scroll up to my previous post where I discuss playing for long hours on the weekends versus vacations without logging in. There is a noticeable difference for me, hence why I always garden as the last thing I do before logging off (since it maximizes the amount of time for energy and "stasis" for the plants).
Ah, your last bit of your post clears up the confusion. I thought you were simply referring to developing needs or pests (which happens regardless if you visit your house or not). Your 22 November post indicated that the "check" occurs when you enter the house, but I've seen the "check" occur while I'm already in the house and I've watched a stage switch before my eyes (and has led to glitches where I cannot harvest). I'm convinced the "check" or trigger is timed, not activated (like the different plant stage cycles themselves, each plant takes longer than others), and they seem to be every 15 mins. or so for the "check" (the plants will disappear for a sec then reappear). However, the stage does not seem to move to the next without visiting in your house.
In other words, you have to visit your house to move to the next stage (good or bad), but not to develop needs or pests (because they are timed, just like the length of the plant itself). You might actually be slowing down your good cycles with the lack of visits.
In your EMP scenario, were they just planted? I too have gone long lengths with Young plants not developing any needs or pests (seedlings do not receive any). It only seems at Mature do they accelerate needs and pests cycles.
However, to answer your questions, I do not visit my house other than to garden and no friends are left and they are not on housing tours. Also, the question about have I left the house for a long time? Scroll up to my previous post where I discuss playing for long hours on the weekends versus vacations without logging in. There is a noticeable difference for me, hence why I always garden as the last thing I do before logging off (since it maximizes the amount of time for energy and "stasis" for the plants).
And this post clarifies and confirms what I have been saying: the check occurs when you go to your house. You have seen needs develop when you are in your house. This does not occur when you don't go home. It only occurs when you go home. Whether it happens when you first get to the house, or sometime after you are already there to me is irrelevant. The point is that the trigger for garden needs/pests/health is linked to you visiting your garden house.
The needs or pests checks are triggered when you go home. It is not tied to your logging on to the game.
You can log on to the game and play as much as you want, without any fear of your plants wilting or dying in your absence, so long as you left the plants cared for before you left your house. If your plants were cared for before you left, then the most that will happen is they will develop needs or pests, and/or will progress a stage of growth, when next you return to your house. So long as you come home with full energy to care for all the needs, then your plants will be fine -- you can tend to needs and eliminate pests.
As you said, it is wise to do this as the last thing you do in the house, and then not return again to that house until you have energy to care for the plants again.
However, you absolutely do not have to log off at that point. You just have to refrain from going back to your garden until you have energy to tend to the garden. I frequently tend plants first thing when I log on, so I don't forget to do it, and then I go play sometimes for a few hours after that. My gardens are still just fine.
And by leaving your house, I did not just mean on vacation. I meant while still playing your character, just not going to the garden house.
However, the question of whether the cycles are sped up by more frequent visits is an interesting thought, and you may be right on that account. If the checks occur when you visit, then you may in fact speed up the process by visiting more often. For me, however, this is offset by the fact that if you visit without full energy, you may have to buy energy with crowns to tend to plant needs.
As I said in one of the earlier posts, I usually tend gardens once a day. That works pretty well for me. More often than that gets to be an expensive energy drain. However, less often is perfectly safe and fine, as it will not harm the gardens.
But the most important part is to always go to the garden home with full energy to tend gardens when you go. Progress to wilting occurs when you leave the garden with unmet needs.
And this post clarifies and confirms what I have been saying: the check occurs when you go to your house. You have seen needs develop when you are in your house. This does not occur when you don't go home. It only occurs when you go home. Whether it happens when you first get to the house, or sometime after you are already there to me is irrelevant. The point is that the trigger for garden needs/pests/health is linked to you visiting your garden house.
The needs or pests checks are triggered when you go home. It is not tied to your logging on to the game.
You can log on to the game and play as much as you want, without any fear of your plants wilting or dying in your absence, so long as you left the plants cared for before you left your house. If your plants were cared for before you left, then the most that will happen is they will develop needs or pests, and/or will progress a stage of growth, when next you return to your house. So long as you come home with full energy to care for all the needs, then your plants will be fine -- you can tend to needs and eliminate pests.
As you said, it is wise to do this as the last thing you do in the house, and then not return again to that house until you have energy to care for the plants again.
However, you absolutely do not have to log off at that point. You just have to refrain from going back to your garden until you have energy to tend to the garden. I frequently tend plants first thing when I log on, so I don't forget to do it, and then I go play sometimes for a few hours after that. My gardens are still just fine.
And by leaving your house, I did not just mean on vacation. I meant while still playing your character, just not going to the garden house.
However, the question of whether the cycles are sped up by more frequent visits is an interesting thought, and you may be right on that account. If the checks occur when you visit, then you may in fact speed up the process by visiting more often. For me, however, this is offset by the fact that if you visit without full energy, you may have to buy energy with crowns to tend to plant needs.
As I said in one of the earlier posts, I usually tend gardens once a day. That works pretty well for me. More often than that gets to be an expensive energy drain. However, less often is perfectly safe and fine, as it will not harm the gardens.
But the most important part is to always go to the garden home with full energy to tend gardens when you go. Progress to wilting occurs when you leave the garden with unmet needs.
Not sure how my post confirms that needs or pests checks occur when you go to your house, since every post I've quoted from KI have all said "login" and there is no possible way to check your plants without going to the house. I've only merely seen evidence of the plants being "timed" given that they refresh every 15 mins. and the fact each plant has a different "timer" (it isn't far fetched to assume this "timing" continues without you present in the house). Even prevention spells are timed...48 hours, 96 hours, etc. In fact, likes and dislikes directly affect the "timer" even while you are away. In one of the posts I quoted from Zeke, he even made reference that the plants will continue to grow even during maintenance down time (and possibly change cycles without visiting your house).
Additionally, if what you say is correct, every castle on tour with a garden would be at risk of dying continuously, simply because that house is top rated and has a player in it constantly. Somehow, I don't think KI would allow that, but rather even if the castle is on tour it is still tied to the "timer" that started when you first planted the seed (or the current cycle).
None of us know for sure how the checks or triggers work, but just because someone said it in a guide, doesn't necessarily make it true. We all suspect the cycles change only by visiting your house, but I personally have noticed a difference in needs/pests accumulation when playing for hours vice logged off (not cycles). I believe we all agree that energy management is really the heart of "advanced" gardening.
Letting you know that mistake could actually be helpful information that improves your gardening and that of others -- it is not being unkind.
Thanks for posting, thanks for starting the thread, and happy gardening!