Underground Gardens.
- Thread starter Saigren
- Start date
stample
Refugee
I may not be able to describe this well, but what you want is possible, almost completely closed in.
Light spreads sideways from any open block it passes through. I don't recall the exact number that still allows plant growth, but I think its 5 for fully open, less for "partial light pass-thru" blocks. I did a lot of testing back in A17 but not since. If you want to do that testing yourself, build a small building (4 high, 3x10 footprint) completely enclosed, with farm plots along one wall. Break out one corner of the roof, and see how far sideways it will let you plant potatoes. Then remove plants, fill that hole with bulletproof glass, repeat planting. Try again with regular window panes, or frames, etc.
This allows you to place a roof over your garden, like a pavilion, as long as the seeds aren't more than a couple blocks away from an open side. OR, it allows you to place one open hole in the center of a 10x10 roof with full walls. I.e. one centered open block could allow planting ~50 crops (not 100, because diagonals wont go 5 left and 5 up. More like 3 left and 2 up.)
Anyway, now you can create a layered underground greenhouse. Dig down 5 blocks, hollow an 9x9 space, cover the 2nd layer down with concrete or iron blocks, top layer as dirt to disguise it. Leave only the center hole open. Even better, make that center hole in the middle of a surface rock outcropping, or some other disguise. Place your plots near the center, as far out as the light will let you plant, and you're done!
If you need more room for crops just dig down and place another layer below the first, then another, etc, till you get to bedrock. Just make sure the very center shaft is open to sky at all times.
Annoying caveat, last I checked, ladders reduced light substantially, so you can't use the center shaft to also be your entrance/exit. You'll need a 2nd hole for that, or tunnel in sideways from your base, or whatever.
Light spreads sideways from any open block it passes through. I don't recall the exact number that still allows plant growth, but I think its 5 for fully open, less for "partial light pass-thru" blocks. I did a lot of testing back in A17 but not since. If you want to do that testing yourself, build a small building (4 high, 3x10 footprint) completely enclosed, with farm plots along one wall. Break out one corner of the roof, and see how far sideways it will let you plant potatoes. Then remove plants, fill that hole with bulletproof glass, repeat planting. Try again with regular window panes, or frames, etc.
This allows you to place a roof over your garden, like a pavilion, as long as the seeds aren't more than a couple blocks away from an open side. OR, it allows you to place one open hole in the center of a 10x10 roof with full walls. I.e. one centered open block could allow planting ~50 crops (not 100, because diagonals wont go 5 left and 5 up. More like 3 left and 2 up.)
Anyway, now you can create a layered underground greenhouse. Dig down 5 blocks, hollow an 9x9 space, cover the 2nd layer down with concrete or iron blocks, top layer as dirt to disguise it. Leave only the center hole open. Even better, make that center hole in the middle of a surface rock outcropping, or some other disguise. Place your plots near the center, as far out as the light will let you plant, and you're done!
If you need more room for crops just dig down and place another layer below the first, then another, etc, till you get to bedrock. Just make sure the very center shaft is open to sky at all times.
Annoying caveat, last I checked, ladders reduced light substantially, so you can't use the center shaft to also be your entrance/exit. You'll need a 2nd hole for that, or tunnel in sideways from your base, or whatever.
Do plants grow underground? I tried to set some up in my basement and it wouldn't let me put the seeds in the plots.
How much headroom do they need? We've got like 9 blocks, so it should be fine.
Ended up having to put the crops on the roof of the building next door (our building is a target for vultures every 7 days)