How to Plant Healroot in RimWorld | Sowing Checker + Greenhouse Tool

RimWorld 1.6 planting tool

Plant Healroot Without Guesswork

Healroot only looks mysterious until you line its checks up in order: Plants 8, a valid grow spot, Allow sowing on, enough warmth, and usable light. This page turns the local Core defs and plant code into a pass/fail checker, a first-harvest estimate, and a one-lamp greenhouse cheat sheet.

Plants 8 to sow
growDays 7 base crop time
fertilityMin 0.7 on ground
Hydroponic sow tag supported
Local data target: Core 1.6.4633 rev1266. The tool uses values from Plant_Healroot, HydroponicsBasin, SunLamp, and Plant.cs.

Fastest fix order

  • Use a grower with Plants 8.
  • Set the zone or basin to Healroot.
  • Make sure Allow sowing is on.
  • Keep the tile above 0C and lit.
  • If winter blocks you, move indoors under a sun lamp.
Tool 1

Can I Sow Healroot Right Now?

Fix blockers in order

The pass/fail logic follows the local healroot def and the cultivation checks in Plant.cs. Use it to catch the usual mistakes before you blame priorities or pathing.

Ground healroot itself has no separate sow research field in the local def. The Hydroponics research gate only matters if you want to use basins.
Ready to sow
Everything important is lined up.
Your pawn can plant now. The only remaining delays are normal work priorities and travel time.
Best-case first maturity
7.0 days
Base growDays 7 adjusted only by the selected fertility tier.
First harvest yield
24 herbal
harvestYield = 1 per mature healroot plant.
Hydroponics footprint
0 basins
Only matters if you choose a hydroponics basin surface.
Baseline lamp + basin draw
0 W
2900W sun lamp plus 70W for each basin you actually place.

Blockers to fix

    Tool 2

    Pick The Fastest Start Route For Your Map

    Three reliable openings
    Lowest cost

    Outdoor field

    how to plant healroot rimworld outdoor field healroot icon

    Best when the growing season is already open and you have a grower who can plant immediately. This is the fastest way to get the first batch started without spending steel or components.

    • Use regular soil or rich soil.
    • Set a small zone first, not a giant field you cannot finish sowing.
    • Great in temperate forest and boreal forest starts.
    fertility 1.0 normal soil
    fertility 1.4 rich soil
    Winter-proof

    Greenhouse on soil

    how to plant healroot rimworld greenhouse heater icon

    Use this when the outdoor season is closed but you still want low-cost production. A sun lamp keeps the crop lit; heaters keep it above freezing.

    • One sun lamp is the expensive part: 2900W.
    • Ground healroot still needs fertilityMin 0.7.
    • Build it before the cold snap, not during one.
    specialDisplayRadius 5.8
    basePowerConsumption 2900
    Fastest growth

    Hydroponics room

    how to plant healroot rimworld hydroponics basin icon

    Use hydroponics when your colony can afford power and you want stable herbal medicine output no matter the season. Healroot supports the hydroponic sow tag directly.

    • Each basin has fertility 2.8.
    • Each basin also burns 70W continuously.
    • You must unlock the Hydroponics research first.
    100 steel + 1 component
    sowTag Hydroponic
    Tool 3

    One Sun Lamp Room: Coverage + Power Math

    Copy this footprint

    The lamp diagram below marks the usable light circle from the local specialDisplayRadius 5.8. Use it to rough out a compact greenhouse or a 20–24 basin hydroponics room before you start laying power.

    11 x 11 room with one sun lamp

    Coverage guide
    Lit crop space Sun lamp tile
    Lamp draw
    2900 W
    From the local SunLamp power comp.
    Basin draw
    70 W each
    From the local HydroponicsBasin power comp.
    Suggested basin pack
    20-24 basins
    Trade a few tiles for walk space if your planter loses time pathing.
    24-basin baseline
    4580 W
    That is one lamp plus 24 × 70W, before heaters or batteries.
    • Ground greenhouse: same lamp, lower power, slower growth than hydroponics.
    • Hydroponics room: faster growth, but a power cut kills crops fast.
    • Keep heaters and batteries on the same circuit plan, but count them separately from the baseline shown here.
    Quick cards

    Requirements, Growth Inputs, and Wild Biomes

    All in one scan
    Sow requirements
    Skill 8 + valid grow spot
    Healroot needs sowMinSkill 8, a zone or grower set to healroot, and a surface that satisfies the plant's sow tag.
    Growth inputs
    Fertility, light, temperature
    The local plant code multiplies growth by separate fertility, light, and temperature factors, so any one of those can stall the crop.
    Ground threshold
    0.7 fertility minimum
    Inherited from PlantBase, which is why healroot will not sow on low-fertility junk tiles.
    Wild pickup maps
    Boreal and temperate are the friendliest
    Core biome files give boreal forest the highest wild healroot weight among the entries checked locally.
    Check Local value What it means in play
    Grower skill sowMinSkill 8 No Plants 8 grower means no sowing, even if everything else is correct.
    Base crop time growDays 7 That is the clean baseline before fertility and environment change the rate.
    Harvest output harvestYield 1 Every mature plant becomes one herbal medicine pack.
    Ground fertility floor fertilityMin 0.7 Bad soil can block sowing before temperature or season even matter.
    Hydroponics support sowTags Ground + Hydroponic Healroot works in basins if you build and power them.
    Hydroponics research Hydroponics on the basin, not on healroot Ground healroot has no separate research lock in the local def.
    Biome Wild healroot weight Practical read
    Boreal forest 0.16 Best local file weight among the core biome entries checked here.
    Temperate forest 0.05 Nice bonus supply, but you still want a planted patch quickly.
    Temperate swamp 0.05 Wild patches can help, but swamp pathing still makes harvesting annoying.
    Tundra 0.05 Wild pickup exists, but protected growing matters more than scouting.
    Cold bog 0.05 You can find it, but a warm greenhouse is still the real answer.
    FAQ

    The Questions That Usually Stall A First Crop

    Short answers

    Why will my colonists harvest but not sow?

    Because the zone can still be set up incorrectly: Allow sowing may be off, the crop may not actually be set to healroot, or nobody on the map has Plants 8.

    Do I need a research project before I can plant healroot?

    Not for ground planting. The local healroot def does not declare a sow research prerequisite. Only the hydroponics basin itself carries the Hydroponics research gate.

    Can I grow healroot in hydroponics?

    Yes. Plant_Healroot includes the Hydroponic sow tag, and the basin uses sowTag Hydroponic, so the tags line up directly.

    What actually changes growth speed?

    The plant code applies separate fertility, light, and temperature multipliers. Rich soil and hydroponics help, but dark or freezing tiles can still shut progress down.

    Local proof

    The Exact Core Values Behind This Page

    From /game
    Show the local defs and code paths used here
    /game/Data/Core/Defs/ThingDefs_Plants/Plants_Cultivated_Farm.xml
    Plant_Healroot
      growDays = 7
      sowWork = 800
      sowMinSkill = 8
      sowTags = Ground, Hydroponic
    
    HealrootBase
      harvestedThingDef = MedicineHerbal
      harvestYield = 1
    
    /game/Data/Core/Defs/ThingDefs_Plants/Plants_Bases.xml
    PlantBase
      fertilityMin = 0.7
      fertilitySensitivity = 1.0
    
    /game/Data/Core/Defs/ThingDefs_Buildings/Buildings_Production.xml
    HydroponicsBasin
      fertility = 2.8
      basePowerConsumption = 70
      researchPrerequisites = Hydroponics
    
    /game/Data/Core/Defs/ThingDefs_Buildings/Buildings_Furniture.xml
    SunLamp
      overlightRadius = 7.0
      basePowerConsumption = 2900
      specialDisplayRadius = 5.8
    
    /game/Source/RimWorld/Thing/Plant/Plant.cs
    GrowthPerTick uses def.plant.growDays and GrowthRate
    GrowthRateFactor_Fertility / Light / Temperature all apply
    Cultivated plants count when inside Zone_Growing or on a SupportsPlants building