A renewable route to herbal medicine that supports medical care when wild patches or a suitable growing area are available.
PC / Global, current base game; DLC optional
WHERE & HOW TO FARM
Where to farm
A visible wild Healroot patch, or a separate viable growing zone near the colony and medical storage.
Healroot can supply herbal medicine from mature wild plants or a cultivated zone. A no-sow growing zone is useful for collecting wild plants without replacing them with a crop. For a planned supply, sow Healroot only where the crop can grow and where colonists can protect it. Move the collected medicine into appropriate medical storage so it remains available for treatment.
A Grow-capable colonist; cultivated Healroot requires a grower meeting its minimum skill.
A no-sow zone over wild plants, or a zone configured to sow Healroot.
Suitable terrain, temperature, light, and a season that supports the crop.
A medical stockpile or other safe storage for harvested medicine.
Inspect the map for wild Healroot. If using a wild patch, place a growing zone over it and turn sowing off while leaving cutting enabled.
For cultivation, place a separate zone on viable ground and select Healroot in the inspect pane.
Check the plant’s conditions and local season; cold resistance does not remove its need for suitable light and growth conditions.
Assign Grow work and keep animals from consuming the plants. Protect the area from cold, fire, and traffic where practical.
Allow plants to mature, then have a Grow-assigned colonist harvest them.
Haul the resulting herbal medicine to a medical stockpile and retain it for treatment before considering any surplus use.
Farming tips
Use separate wild-harvest and cultivated zones so changing crop settings cannot accidentally cut or replace the patch you want to collect.
A skilled grower’s harvest can improve yield; prioritize higher Plants skill for collection if staffing allows.
Repeat, collect and use
Wild Healroot collection is limited by the plants present and their regrowth; it is not an unlimited harvest from a fixed patch. Cultivated Healroot can be replanted and harvested while growing conditions permit.
Common mistakes
Leaving sowing on over a wild patch: turn it off so the zone harvests mature wild plants instead of planting over them.
Assuming cold tolerance means growth is unaffected by all cold: check the plant’s current growth information and protect cultivated plants from unsuitable conditions.
Using all herbal medicine for nonmedical purposes: keep a treatment reserve before redirecting surplus.
When to stop or switch
Stop collecting from a patch when its plants are gone or immature; switch to a cultivated plot or another medicine source until it recovers.
