Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Use Fertilizers

Here's how to match each fertilizer type to the crop you're growing in Graveyard Keeper 2.

Each fertilizer in Graveyard Keeper 2 changes a different number on the garden bed. Picking the right one comes down to the crop requirement and how close your bed quality gets to a multiple of it.

Where to Unlock Fertilizers in Graveyard Keeper 2

Open the tech tree and go to the Farming branch. The Fertilizers I node unlocks Peat (+1 Garden Bed Quality) and Crop Boosting Fertilizer I (+1 Craft Length). Later nodes add Farming Fertilizer I at +2 quality and Farming Fertilizer II at +3.

Farming Fertilizer III reaches +5 quality, and two tiers of Headstart Fertilizer add Craft Progress. Each batch of 8 Leaves at the Compost Pile makes 2 Peat, the base ingredient for every other fertilizer. The other fertilizers are crafted at the Formulation Bench.

Every fertilizer above uses Peat, so composting can slow your whole fertilizer supply. A composting perk reportedly doubles the Peat you get from the Compost Pile.

Fertilizers I gives each bed one fertilizer slot, and Fertilizers II adds a second. You can only add or swap fertilizer while the bed is empty, so choose it before planting. The fertilizer reportedly stays on the bed between harvests.

How Garden Bed Quality Differs From Farming Mastery

Garden Bed Quality is a separate number from your Farming Mastery in Graveyard Keeper 2. Both use the same icon, but raising Farming Mastery through tools or perks does nothing for the bed. The bed window also labels the crop requirement as "Required mastery," which adds to the mix-up.

Bed quality starts at 2, with a tick every 2 minutes. Research Garden Improvement I and build Garden Upgrade I to reach 4 quality and a 1 minute 45 second tick. Garden Upgrade II follows Garden Improvement II and brings 8 quality with a 1 minute 30 second tick.

How Quality Fertilizer Changes Tick Chance

Each tick, the bed rolls for a green bar (one successful growth step), and your chance equals bed quality divided by the requirement. A bed at 4 with Flax Seeds (requirement 5) has an 80% chance. Adding Peat brings it to 5 out of 5, so every tick succeeds.

Quality fertilizers stack, and extra quality only pays off at full multiples of the requirement. Double the requirement gives two green bars per tick, and triple gives three, the maximum. Anything in between shows a partial bar that does nothing, so 9 quality on Flax performs like 5.

What Craft Progress and Craft Length Do

Craft Progress sets how many green bars the crop starts with. A planted crop normally starts with 4, and Headstart Fertilizer II raises that to 6. Those two free bars mean two fewer ticks to harvest, with no change to tick chance.

Craft Length adds growth steps to the end of the bar. The tooltip on Crop Boosting Fertilizer I reads +1 Craft Length, and that +1 equals 2 extra steps. In one run, it took a Flax bed from six possible bonus Flax to seven.

Odd growth steps reportedly add a seed and even steps add a crop, so the 12 standard steps give up to 6 of each. Crop Boosting Fertilizer I adds one more of each, though the crop needs two extra ticks to finish.

The Farmer I, Farmer II and Seed Master perks reportedly add one more crop or seed each. That may be why the test below produced 7 Carrots instead of 6.

Carrots vs Flax Fertilizer Test in Graveyard Keeper 2

Here's a test in Graveyard Keeper 2 with Carrot Seeds (requirement 4) and Flax Seeds (requirement 5). Every bed started at quality 4, plus Peat in the first slot for 5 total. Row one had nothing else, row two added Farming Fertilizer II, and row three added Headstart Fertilizer II.

Carrots at quality 8 hit double their requirement and finished in 4 ticks. The Headstart row needed 6 ticks, and the Peat-only row took 8. For Carrots, stacking quality won.

Flax at 8 fell short of the next multiple, 10, so it still got one bar per tick and took 8 ticks. The Headstart row finished first at 6 ticks. Yields matched across rows, with each Carrot bed giving 6 Carrot Seeds and 7 Carrots in that run.

Using Craft Length for Seed Upgrades in Graveyard Keeper 2

Craft Length helps most when you want a seed with more stars. Star crops such as Cabbage and Onion move up one star after 11 successful steps, so every failed tick counts against you. The extra steps also cushion failed ticks when your bed quality is below the requirement.

In one example on a Cabbage bed with a 50% tick chance, Crop Boosting Fertilizer I added a second silver star slot to the growth bar. That bed could fail two ticks and still reach silver. The bed without it lost the silver grade after one failed tick.

What to Do Next

Before you plant, compare the bed quality with the crop requirement. If quality fertilizer lands you on an exact multiple, use it. Otherwise, put Headstart Fertilizer in that slot and save Crop Boosting Fertilizer I for seed upgrades. Garden Upgrade II in Graveyard Keeper 2 already doubles Carrots at base.

Use quality fertilizer only when it reaches an exact multiple of the crop requirement, and pick Headstart or Crop Boosting the rest of the time.

FAQ

Q. Does Farming Mastery raise garden bed quality in Graveyard Keeper 2?

A. Your character's Farming Mastery has no effect on the bed. Bed quality comes from garden upgrades and the fertilizer in its slots.

Q. Why didn't extra quality speed up my flax?

A. Quality adds a green bar per tick only at full multiples of the requirement. Flax needs 5, so anything from 5 to 9 gives one bar per tick until you reach 10.

Q. Can you add fertilizer to a bed that already has a crop in Graveyard Keeper 2?

A. Fertilizer goes on an empty bed only. Harvest or clear the crop first, then fill the slots before you replant.

Q. Is Craft Length worth using on regular crops?

A. It adds one crop and one seed to each harvest at the cost of two more ticks. If you want the crop sooner, a Headstart or an exact quality multiple gets you there faster.

Also, check out our other guides below :

• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Set Up Your Factory
• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Automate Wood Production
• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Win Zombie Battles
• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Make Money With Paint
• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Increase Mastery With Tools