Build 42 Farming — Full Crop Table and Mechanics Verified on 42.20

Build 42 turned the old "plant cabbages and wait" loop into a real agriculture system: 56 crops, hard planting seasons, moon-phase health, curses, and four curable diseases. The skill itself was even renamed — the game now calls it Agriculture (skill ID Farming). This guide covers the complete crop table and every mechanic that decides whether your harvest feeds you or rots in the furrow. Facts are drawn from PZwiki's Agriculture page (stamped 42.18.0 at check time) and re-checked against stable 42.20.0 on 2026-08-04.

What changed from Build 41 farming

• The Farming skill was renamed Agriculture in Build 42; harvesting your own crops is the only XP source (plowing, sowing, weeding, watering, and fertilizing give none).
• New crops: corn, green peas, garlic, barley, flax, hemp, hops, rye, sugar beet, sunflower, tobacco, hot peppers (habanero, jalapeño), and herbs such as rosemary, lavender, and chamomile.
• Slugs and snails joined the disease roster, weeding now matters mechanically, and chickens plus rosemary are used for slug control.
• Food preservation arrived (drying racks) to handle harvest surpluses.

The complete Build 42 crop table

Growth time is the average days to reach "ready to harvest" (phase 6), with up to ±12 hours random offset per phase. "Planting" months avoid curses; "Bad months" curse the crop outright.

Since the Knox Event starts in July 1993, your first viable plantings are radish, lettuce, kale, broccoli (just), turnip, sweet potato, tobacco, and garlic — not potato or cabbage.

Watering: the numbers that kill crops

Water levels run 0–100: Parched (0–29), Dry (30–59), Thirsty (60–69), Fine (70–89), Well watered (90–100). Newly planted crops start at 0. You water in 10-unit increments with a watering can or backpack sprayer; rain adds water based on intensity.

Low-water crops (barley, corn, garlic, herbs like rosemary) forgive neglect; strawberries, basil, and poppies at minimum 80 do not.

Fertilizer, compost, and the curse trap

First fertilizer or compost use per growth phase removes 40 hours of growth (20 with weeds) and adds 10 health. Repeat fertilizer applications backfire: each extra use removes 25 health, and fertilizing three or more times curses the crop permanently. Compost can be reapplied harmlessly but without extra benefit. Neither works in winter or at growth phases 6–7.

Build a composter at Carpentry 3 (or loot one from backyards), load stale/rotten food or poppies, and collect compost with a sack after two in-game weeks.

Moon phases, health, and yield

Crops start around 50 health depending on the moon: ascending 47–53, full moon 57–64, descending 37–44. Sunny weather adds +1 health per tick (not sunny +0.25; below 10 °C −0.25 unless cold hardy). At harvest, every 10 health above 50 yields one extra vegetable — this is why full-moon planting is a real strategy.

Cursed crops and seasons

A crop becomes cursed when planted in poor months (50–5% chance, scaling with Agriculture), outside its planting season, during bad months, or during winter (December–February — all crops curse on winter's first day unless cold hardy). Cursed crops heal at half rate, take double damage, lose bonus yield, and double disease chance. There is no uncursing. Carrots and kale are bad-month hardy once they reach growth phase 4 and 3 respectively.

Diseases and cures

Four diseases roll when a crop enters a new growth phase (2% base chance, halved with bonus yield, doubled by weeds or curse): mildew, pest flies, slugs, aphids. Untreated, levels rise every 2 hours; at 60+ the crop dies at its next phase. Cures for mildew, flies, and aphids are crafted with a spray can plus milk, tobacco, or rubbing alcohol (see our recipes guide); slug repellent is loot-only. Dehydrating a crop on purpose reduces aphids by 2 per 2 hours. Some crops are immune — garlic, onion, leek, rosemary, and marigold anchor a disease-resistant garden, and at phase 3+ they even shield adjacent crops.

Verified on 42.20 · Last checked 2026-08-04

Crop data, mechanics, and XP values come from PZwiki's Agriculture page, last updated for 42.18.0 at check time, cross-checked against the 42.20.0 stable release (July 29, 2026). The page's own version banner warns of possible drift, so re-verify fertilizer timing and disease percentages after future patches.