In a farming simulation game likeStardew Valley, it’s no surprise when growing and tending to crops takes up the majority of your time. However, if you’re looking for produce that requires far less hands-on work, consider planting a fruit tree orchard on your farm!
With two trees that grow during every season but Winter (on your farm in Pelican Town, that is) and two more to find and grow on Ginger Island, there are eight total fruit trees you can plant in Stardew Valley. Our guide will help you plan out your fruit tree orchard for the best harvests.
Fruit Trees And When They Bear Fruit
Fruit trees in Stardew Valley require a bitmore planning and growth timethanyour regular crops, but they end up beingmuch more hands-offthan a regular crop field once you’ve gotten them into the ground.
Fruit trees grow fromfruit tree saplings, which can bepurchased fromPierre’s Shop(or theJoja Mart)regardless of which season it currently is in the game. This is becausefruit trees take 28 days to mature, meaning you’ll need to plan ahead andplant them at least a full season earlierthan when you intend to harvest them.
Like other crops,fruit trees only bear fruit during one seasonafter they’ve matured, butunlikeother crops, once a fruit tree has reached maturity, it willproduce fruit every yearuntil you cut down the tree.
New inthe 1.6 update, we now get a fruit tree sapling when cutting down a fruit tree, and the sapling will be of the same quality as the fruit the tree bore. No more do fruit trees only drop Wood when chopped!
Fruit treesgrow one fruit per dayduring the season in which they produce fruit, and you’re able to stack up tothree fruits on one treebefore new ones stop growing in, so be sure toharvest at least every three daysduring their harvest season to optimize your profits!
Fruit grows in different qualities, and the quality of your harvest is typically determined by theage of the tree, with thefruit quality seeming to increasing over time.
As such, it’s a good idea to plant your fruit treesyear oneto begin growing better fruit for the future.
Like other trees,fruit trees need space to grow, requiring the sapling to be planted in untilled ground in the center of athree by three area, like what’s watered with theSprinkler. It’s important to note thatyour fruit tree won’t grow if anything is in this three by three space, including randomly spawned debris around the farm,furniture, pathways, and more.
Once the tree is fully grown, though, it will continue to produce fruit regardless, meaningitems can be safely placed in that gridwithout impacting the health of the three once it reaches maturity.
To help prevent debris from hindering growth, you’ll see a message in the morning stating that your (fruit) tree wasn’t able to grow overnight, which is your cue to go check the area around your tree and break up any branches, grass, or rocks that may have spawned.
Not largely impacted by weather,fruit trees grow during every season, meaning you can safely plant trees in the Winter and expect a normal harvest the following year after they’ve used the Winter to grow to maturity.
Fruit trees can be struck by lightning during big storms, though, which will cause them toproduce Coal instead of fruit for four daysafter the storm. After that, they’llreturn to normal, so don’t make the mistake of cutting them down like we did!
Gold:195g
Iridium:260g
- If you’vechosen a professionthat boosts the sale price of your crops, your numbers may be different from base values in the table above.
Once you’ve harvested everything from your fruit tree, you cansell your harvest as-isor use it like other fruits in Stardew Valley tomakewine or jellyto increase the value.
How To Grow Fruit Trees All Year
Use The Greenhouse
Like other crops, you canusethe Greenhouseto grow fruit trees year-round. An advantageous difference for fruit trees, though, is that you can safelyplant them along the perimeter of the Greenhouseto maximize the soil space for traditional crops.
When planted inside the Greenhouse, fruit trees need 28 days to mature as normal, but they’llproduce one fruit each dayuntil cut down, without regard for the current season.
Plant Fruit Trees On Ginger Island
Finally, just like all your other crops onthe Island farm,fruit trees can be harvested year-roundonGinger Island.
Like in Pelican Town, fruit trees still need the full 28 days once planted to grow to maturity on Ginger Island, but once they reach maturity, your fruit trees will bearone fruit per day no matter the season. This meansplanting an orchardon your Ginger Island farm is a quick and easy way to have year-round access to fruit tree fruits!
When planting Ginger Island fruit trees like Banana and Mango Trees back in Pelican Town, they’ll only produce fruit during the Summer.
