Tutorials/Tree farming

Tree farming is the process of planting a large number of saplings and waiting for them to grow into trees. These trees are then harvested for wood and more saplings, which can be used to grow another generation of trees. This can be repeated indefinitely, yielding a regular supply of logs without the hassle of covering large areas of terrain. A secondary benefit of tree farming is that it allows conservation of the surrounding environment.

Some players prefer to farm larger trees, as they yield more logs per tree or per sapling while most players prefer to farm smaller trees, as all the wood can be easily harvested from the ground and "floating canopies" do not persist as long. For more information on the mechanics of tree growth, consult the article on trees.

Something to keep in mind
Because all four types have different advantages and disadvantages, the best tree to choose can vary with the situation. Oak trees are best in at the beginning of the game or compact spaces; birch is best in moderately sized fields or a community farm, and jungle trees are best for mass-production of wood late in the game, when you have plenty of time and space on your hands.

Since 1.2.4, wood from different trees is now a different color. If building wooden structures, you may wish to chose a specific tree for its color of wood. Because the efficiency difference of different tree types is only slight, this often takes priority. If building with multiple wood types, having a tree farm for each is also useful.

Jungle Tree Farming
As of version 1.2, jungle trees can now be planted and grown just like any other tree. Unless you want jungle wood, this is not very useful, as they are slightly too large to harvest easily and drop saplings rarely. However, if you have four saplings they can also be grown into the "jungle giant" form, by planting them in a 2&times;2 formation: Warning: Aside from the saplings, make sure there are no blocks less than 2 blocks away from the saplings, at any height up to the future height of the tree trunk (up to 32 blocks). A big jungle tree with a 2&times;2 thick trunk will grow. These trees average ~96 wood (1&frac12; stacks), and some can exceed 2 stacks. Bonemeal can be used on any (one) of the saplings to make the tree grow immediately.

Efficient tree farming
Trees now grow branches if the height is capped at 8.

Since trees begin to grow branches on their main trunks once they reach a height of 6 blocks or more and the player can only harvest 6 blocks above the ground without climbing on something, the most efficient tree farm design limits the height of trees to 8 blocks. This allows 6 blocks of logs as a "trunk" and 2 block of leaves above that. This is accomplished by adding a ceiling at 9th block above the ground, leaving a space 8 blocks high in which trees can grow. This allows all of the wood from the trees to be harvested quickly and with minimal effort.

It should be noted that leaving 8 blocks of space for trees to grow will not guarantee that all trees grow to this height. Trees will grow with trunks 4, 5 and 6 blocks in height, but not higher.

This height issue can also be avoided by planting a sapling on the bottom of a 2-block-deep hole. This ensures that the top layer of the tree will still be reachable, and has the added benefit of preventing mobs from hiding in the shadow of the tree and surviving daylight.

Note that oaks can grow through certain blocks: Small oaks can replace many blocks (fences, glass, paintings, stairs, pistons, torches, buttons, ladders and doors), while the branch wood of large oaks can grow through even solid blocks (including chests).

Since trees will grow quite happily underground with a nearby light source, and will grow when in direct or diagonal contact with other trees, quite compact arrangements can be used for efficient use of space. The images to the right show that trees will grow quite happily in confined spaces and in close packed arrangements.

Underground saplings rely on torch light to grow. Various patterns of saplings and torches can be used to achieve varying degrees of space efficiency. Since saplings only require light level 9 to grow, a single torch starting at light level 14 can sufficiently light 60 saplings. However, this torch-efficient model comes at the cost of stability. Trees can grow and block the torch light to other saplings. Underground tree farms should stay clear of magma because a bug relating to the South/East rule may let magma affect any leaf/wood blocks occupying the same corner.

Simple farming
What you need:

1. A chest 2. At least 4 saplings(any kind) 3. A chest(optional) 4. An axe(Any)(optional)

First dig 1 block down. Count 4 blocks to the left and dig 1 block down. 4 blocks left again, dig one down. Repeat one more time. Then plant a sapling in every hole:

Wait a day (or use bonemeal), then harvest the trees (get the saplings too, for next time). Place the chest nearby and store the saplings(and axe, if you have one) in there. You can extend the grid if you like, as long as all the saplings are the same type.

80% efficiency farming
It is also possible to grow trees, especially oaks, closer together, to maximize wood for the territory. However, since the canopies will overlap, you will get fewer saplings back.

The most space-efficient way to prevent grown trees from blocking light to other saplings is to have every sapling directly next to a torch (not diagonal). This strategy yields a maximum space efficiency of 80% since the pattern is made up of units of 1 torch + 4 saplings. The plus-sign shaped units can be arranged to completely fill an area.

For example, the following diagram shows an 11 by 7 farm, utilizing 61 saplings and 22 torches, with a perimeter walkway.

While an odd-shaped 80% efficient farm is possible, this design sacrifices some efficiency (79.2% efficient in an 11x7 farm, not counting the walkway) for ease of maintenance by including a rectangle perimeter walkway around the farm. The torches placed on the walkway are required for lighting the immediately adjacent saplings.

It is recommended that the perimeter walkway and all blocks with a torch underneath be a different material, such as cobblestone. This will allow for quick visual identification during re-planting, of which blocks get saplings and which get torches that may have been inadvertently knocked out during harvest. It is recommended to do the same for torches on the wall, as these may get knocked off by growing trees.

An improvement on this design is the following. A 16 by 7 farm, utilizing 94 Saplings and 24 torches, with a perimeter walkway.

This design takes account for the fact that all saplings adjacent to the walkway are supplied by light from the torches on the walkway. Thus the farm yields an efficiency of 84%.

Note when the tree farm is cut down, the amount of returned saplings per tree is much lower than cutting trees in a forest as the canopy is shared by many trees. Therefore, when starting the farm, growing them more spaced out will yield more saplings per tree, allowing to get enough saplings for a desired tree farm size more quickly.

The same principle can be applied to sugar cane farms by replacing the torches with water and the trees with sugar cane. This can create a dual purpose farm by placing water with glowstone on top, this allows either trees or sugarcane (or both) to grow.

Farming Spruce and Birch Trees


Unlike oak trees, spruce and birch trees will never grow to a branched tree. This makes them easier to harvest, but to farm Birch and Spruce trees efficiently, more space is required. Birches can be planted next to other birches with 2 blocks of space between them since the birch leaves can overlap with other birch leaves. This same spacing holds true for spruces. However, when planting the different types of trees together, birch and spruce trees need 4 blocks of space in between the saplings (the tree will not grow if leaves of a different tree are obstructing its path). Both birch and spruce trees require 9 blocks of vertical space above the sapling to grow regularly (10 is more efficient for growth). Both Spruce and Birch will grow with less space, but not as regularly. Light requirements are the same as normal saplings.

Force growing trees
You can force grow a tree by limiting its minimum growth height, forcing it to grow as a certain size. This is done by placing blocks around the lower area, typically a loop of blocks floating around the sapling at a height of three or four blocks, with an opening in the center for the future trunk to grow through. This will prevent the tree from growing if it would collide with the blocks above, causing it to instead choose another height and attempt to grow again until it finds one which will allow it to grow through the hole. As a result, natural growth of such "tube trees" usually takes longer than others. This method will not force a tree to grow above the maximum height. This can be seen in the gallery. Bone Meal can be used to force growth, if you have enough of it: On each attempt, if the tree would have grown too tall, the bone meal will be used up without effect.

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