The game features three types of soil. If you make new mounds in a particular biome, you expose a certain type of soil.

The type of soil gives it a slightly different colour. You might be able to see it only if you have side-by-side examples to compare. Far easier to hold the mouse cursor over the mound.


After you have harvested a crop, it leaves traces of itself in the soil, changing the soil to be the same type as that crop. So if you have a Nitrogenic soil mound, and you want it to be Potassic, plant any Potassic crop in it, wait for that crop to grow to maturity and harvest it. The traces of crop which are left after the harvest will change the soil to be Potassic.

Here are the things that need a mound to grow in. There are other plants that grow, but they must be planted directly into the ground, not into a crop mound.

After you have harvested a crop, it leaves traces of itself on the soil, changing the soil to be the same type as that crop. So if you have a Nitrogenic soil mount, and you want it to be Potassic, plant any Potassic crop in it, wait for that crop to grow to maturity and harvest it. The traces of crop which are left after the harvest will change the soil to be Potassic.

By figuring out a cycle you can work out a system where you get some sort of bonus every time you plant a crop.

In real life, correct crop rotation leads to more vigorous crops. You get more in the harvest, the crop grows bigger, or it is more resistant to disease. In the game this is seen as high yield on harvest.

Nitrogenic soil & Phosphoric seed --> High Yield
Phosphoric soil & Potassic seed --> High Yield
Potassic soil & Nitrogenic seed --> High Yield

The game adds a twist: do it exactly wrong (swap the soil and the seed) and you get a useful mutation. This does not happen in real life !

Phosphoric soil & Nitrogenic seed --> Mutated Yield
Potassic soil & Phosphoric seed --> Mutated Yield
Nitrogenic soil & Potassic seed --> Mutated Yield

If you have trouble seeing whether a crop has grown to maturity, step out of your mech and go look at it close up as a farmer. Mature crops have tiny white specs sparkling around them. But when you look at them as a person, not a mech, they always have a 'Harvest' prompt showing. It's easier to see than the tiny white specs.

As well as being essential ingredients for many recipes, crop oils can be used to keep your mech working and to sell to the merchant.