Topic

Looking for more detail on the life cycle and needs of trees.

I always feel guilty if I harvest a tree without petting and watering it first.  But occasionally I'm in a hurry and find myself grabbing a few dozen eggs or allspice while ignoring the trees' needs.  Am I doing harm?

The wiki says, "Trees require watering, petting and harvesting to survive," but how much; how often? Do they always ask for love and water, or do they really need them if they ask(Which is almost always)? The wiki  also says, "Trees can grow from level 1 to level 10," but I don't find any way of telling what level a tree is at (other than the obvious when it is a tiny sapling).  Are there really these 10 levels, and does it matter which level a tree is at?

Part of what bugs me is that, if I'm out on a major tree harvesting expedition, eventually my mood tops out from all the petting and watering, but I'm still losing energy with each pet and water.  If the tree needs the pet and water to compensate for the harvest, that's fine, but I find myself wondering, "Is this actually doing any good?" as I go from tree to tree doing pet-water-harvest, pet-water-harvest.

I have read that trees will die if they are over-harvested, but do they show signs of weakening first?  On the (rare) occasions when I do some harvesting while giving the tree nothing, might a perfectly healthy looking tree suddenly shrivel and die before my eyes if I harvest it without first giving to it?

I suppose the nub of the issue is that I see no difference in a tree regardless of whether or not I pet and water it.  Assuming that harvesting without first giving weakens the tree, it would be nice to get some visual feedback - a drooping of the branches and a sigh perhaps.  Or from another angle, I believe a bean tree gives me 6 beans whether I give to it or not.  Maybe it should be 6 beans with no care, 7 beans with a pet or a water and 8 beans with both.

Any information greatly appreciated!

Posted 16 months ago by Hawkwell Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • @Hawk, the waterings and petting simply refill the tree as far as I know...... If you harvest too much (in Eggplants, 24 eggs= I egg in nest) The tree would be depleted and needs a watering and petting to be refilled. That's why it sometimes looks different asfter petting/ watering.
    Posted 16 months ago by KitkatCat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm a bit in a hurry and therefor will give an easy reply on only a small part of your post:

    There is a quest where you have to harvest the last egg from an eggplant. This can be achieved by lots of people harvesting without petting or watering. You'll notice that if you pet/water it, the harvested egg returns. So sometimes it's good not to pet and water.

    Many people feel that trees dying in this game is a very very bad thing, but it isn't. It gives players a chance to plant new trees, which is also very fun to do but hard to do because of the sparsity of empty patches.

    It was suggested once that items (food) have a shorter lifespan, e.g. degenerating. I wish trees would degenerate a bit more, or that there was a benefit if trees would have to be replanted a bit more. Planting trees is a lot of fun, and IMO should happen more often.
    (Maybe some people understand part of my motivation for La Resistance. That, and create some ingame excitement for all, some roleplay.)

    Take the wood tree for example - that is one tree I like to protect. Why? Because it's a challenge to keep it alive, it means no harvesting when it's nearly dead. And also, it gives most harvest when it is up to full growth. With each harvest it is reduced in size, and it needs a few pettings and love to get it back to the previous size. So in their case the results from loving and harvesting are more obvjious.They need to be loved more then harvested for them to survive.
    Posted 16 months ago by Miriamele Subscriber! | Permalink
  • First, a joke: Nanookie calls wood trees the "veal of trees."  

    Second, one of the most efficient harvesting expeditions I went on was after a street project depleted my entire (considerable) stash of cherries and that of a friend.  We hit the forest and the meadow and split the water/pet duties between us (one would pet, one would water).  IIRC, if we timed it nicely, the petter would wait just until they saw the other person's watering can start to tip, and click the tree - the first item on the menu instead of the second would be "pet" instead of "water."  Efficient.  We went zipping from tree to tree to tree in this fashion, happily harvesting and keeping the trees happy too.  

    Sometimes I've come upon a set of trees where someone has obviously just been through doing a pet/water and the first menu item is "harvest" - that's pretty efficient too, but serendipitous and doesn't give you the nice glow of teamwork.
    Posted 16 months ago by jasbo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If you go into the swamp (Shimla Mirch, Chakra Phool) you can find trees that seem to be neglected. Spice trees, instead of being full and round, look ragged and split. After watering and petting, they are full and round again. I try to find them all and give them a dose of fertilidust, too.
    Posted 16 months ago by Zany Serendipity Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Maybe it's strange, but I consider harvesting without petting and watering somehow impolite. :)
    Posted 16 months ago by nekomaki Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have some fully mature trees in my yard. After I do the daily pet/water/harvest on them, they ask for more petting & watering (but no more harvest until next game day). I wonder whether I have to do that or not. When I'm around, I do give them the extra petting & watering, but just as often I'm out and don't. I never see any difference whether I do or don't.
    Posted 16 months ago by FrankenPaula Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @FrankenPaula - greedy trees.... ::grumble::
    Posted 16 months ago by jasbo Subscriber! | Permalink