Originally released in 2013 for early access, Rust is a multiplayer video game with a clear emphasis on survival. Players are expected to scrounge for food, material and other resources in their bid to survive a harsh open-world environment.

Related: Rust: Base Building Essentials (How To Protect Your Loot)

As of April 2, 2020, Rust received a farming update which completely revamped the farming system in the game. No longer will players be able to grow crops just by inserting seeds into the ground. Instead, players will be expected to give their plants water, sunlight, and fertilizer if they expect to grow anything.

Plant Necessities in Rust

Aside from the obvious fact that all plants need to put into the soil, the other main plant necessities in Rust are water and light. Lighting is easy enough to acquire; either put the plants in direct sunlight or give them artificial light through electricity. Keep in mind that as of right now, there is no such thing as “half-lighting”. Either a plant is in a lit area or it isn’t. But once the lighting is out of the way, water is the main thing players need to work on.

The simple way to do that is by watering the plants manually with either a water bucket or water jug. It can be made easier if the player takes the time to fill up a few water barrels, which can hold up to 20,000 mL of water. But this method is far from convenient.

A more advanced means of watering can be done by creating a working sprinkler system. The April update comes with sprinklers, fluid splitters, fluid switches, a hose tool, etc. But the basic set up to keep in mind should be this:

  1. Construct a water catcher (or several) to collect water
  2. Connect this water collection to the main sprinkler system
  3. Have this sprinkler system situated over crops

To connect one part of the water system to the other, players will need to use the newly added hose tool. Players will also likely want to install a fluid switch to control when the plants get watered. If the player’s farm is situated at a higher elevation water pump will be needed to get the water to travel upward.

Soil Quality and Compost in Rust

While planting seeds in planters is usually the safest and easiest way to ensure that crops are cared for, some players may prefer a more natural approach. Why not just plant some seeds in the ground? It’s possible. But this update also comes with updates on how well plants deal with certain environments.

Naturally, biomes with extreme temperatures like the desert are not friendly to plants. But biomes like the temperate grasslands or woodlands are far more hospitable. But even the more temperate environments tend to have unpredictable soil quality. So sticking to planters is usually the best way to go.

But as soon as players get their crops growing, they may notice that their soil quality may be dropping. A good way to replenish this is by making use of the composter. The composter can take several organic items like plant fiber, corn, and horse dung and convert it into fertilizer. This fertilizer, in turn, can be used to assist crop growth.

Genes, Cloning and Crossbreeding in Rust

By far the most advanced and complicated addition to the farming update is that plants now have genes. These genes and what they affect are listed below:

  • G = Growth Rate
  • Y = Increased Yield
  • H = Increased Hardiness
  • W = Increased water Intake
  • X = Null/Empty

Each plant has six slots, and what type of genes a plant has are randomly generated as soon as the player plants the seed. Note that of all the genes, the X and W genes are the only bad ones. If the player wants to cultivate a different strand of genes, then the player will have to grow several plants beside each other in the hopes that one plant’s genes will override the other by crossbreeding.

When a plant enters the crossbreeding state, the genes of a plant may be overwritten if enough neighboring plants all have a matching gene type in the same gene slot. So for example, if a plant has an X gene in the first gene slot, but two neighboring plants have the Y gene in their first gene slot, then the first plant will have their X gene replaced with the Y gene.

Cloning, on the other hand, is used if a player likes a plant’s particular gene strand. A cloned plant will be exactly like the original and inherit all of its genes.

When cloning and crossbreeding are used together, the player will be able to cultivate their ideal gene strand. These strands can be anything from a plant entirely dedicated to increasing yield, having major hardiness, a healthy mix of growth and yield, and everything in-between.

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Rust is available on PC and Mac OS X