Sprinkler Irrigation in Stardew Valley: Save Time and Effort
Sprinklers in Stardew Valley Save Time, Energy, and Trips to Refill Your Watering Can - A Guide
Stardew Valley Sprinklers The Ultimate Guide
In the world of Stardew Valley, where farming is the name of the game, sprinkler irrigation is a game-changer. With the help of a good sprinkler system, you can bid goodbye to the tedious task of manually watering your crops with a watering can. In this article, we’ll dive into the different types of sprinklers available, how to obtain them, and some advanced sprinkler enhancements that will make your farm thrive.
Updated December 22, 2023 by Jacqueline Zalace:
Stardew Valley sprinklers can be a lifesaver, especially if you have other things to do besides water crops all morning. We’ve updated this guide with tweaks to the formatting to help you learn the ways of irrigation in no time. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
- Sprinkler Types
- Sprinklers on the Beach Farm
- Basic Sprinklers
- Quality Sprinklers
- Iridium Sprinklers
- Nozzles & Enrichers in Qi’s Walnut Room
- How to Use Pressure Nozzles
- How to Use Enrichers
- Best Sprinkler Layouts
- Sprinklers on the First Day of a New Season
Sprinkler Types
In Stardew Valley, there are three types of sprinklers, each more powerful than the previous one. The sprinkler types are:
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Sprinkler: This is the basic sprinkler that covers a modest range of four tiles – one tile up, one down, one to the left, and one to the right. You can learn the recipe for the basic sprinkler at farming level two. These sprinklers can also be found for sale at the Traveling Cart in the Cindersap Forest on Fridays and Saturdays.
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Quality Sprinkler: The next step up from the basic sprinkler is the quality sprinkler. It covers a larger area, with a total of eight tiles – including the four tiles covered by the basic sprinkler and the four diagonals. A popular layout for the quality sprinklers is the 3×3 grid, perfectly fitting into the middle without any rearranging. Additionally, you may find quality sprinklers at the Traveling Cart.
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Iridium Sprinkler: The cream of the crop, the iridium sprinkler, is the best sprinkler in the game. It covers an impressive range of 24 tiles – a 5×5 grid with the sprinkler in the center. Krobus’ shop sells iridium sprinklers for 10,000 gold every Friday, once you unlock the Sewers.
Sprinklers on the Beach Farm
Unfortunately, sprinklers do not work on the sandy parts of the beach farm. They will only work on the dirt areas. So, crops that grow in the sand will need to be manually watered. However, if you want to use sprinklers on the sand, there are beach farm mods available, such as “Allow Beach Sprinklers”. On the Ginger Island farm, which is technically a giant beach, sprinklers can be used normally.
Basic Sprinklers
The basic sprinkler is the first sprinkler you’ll obtain. It covers a small area of four tiles and can be crafted once you reach farming level two. The recipe requires one copper bar and one iron bar. While they don’t cover much total area, they still save you the trouble of watering manually. Keep an eye out for basic sprinklers for sale at the Traveling Cart if you need more.
Quality Sprinklers
Quality sprinklers are a significant upgrade from the basic sprinklers. They cover a larger area of eight tiles, including the four tiles covered by the basic sprinklers and the four diagonals. Creating your crop-growing areas in 3×3 grids is a recommended strategy, as the quality sprinklers will fit perfectly into the middle without requiring any rearranging. Traveling Cart might sometimes have quality sprinklers available for purchase.
Iridium Sprinklers
Iridium sprinklers are the pinnacle of sprinkler technology in Stardew Valley. They cover a whopping 24 tiles, providing maximum efficiency for your farm. Placing them in a 5×5 grid ensures that every tile of tillable soil is watered. You can purchase iridium sprinklers from Krobus’ shop every Friday for 10,000 gold once you unlock the Sewers.
Nozzles & Enrichers in Qi’s Walnut Room
In the post-game, you’ll unlock Qi’s Walnut Room, where you can find special sprinkler enhancements – the pressure nozzle and the enricher. These upgrades can be attached to your sprinklers to achieve different effects. Check out the list of rewards in Qi’s Walnut Room to get your hands on these enhancements.
How to Unlock Qi’s Walnut Room
Unlocking Qi’s Walnut Room requires collecting Golden Walnuts on Ginger Island. Head to the far northwest area of the island after unlocking the west side with the island farm. You’ll need a total of 100 Golden Walnuts to gain access to Qi’s Walnut Room. Once inside, you can take on quests to earn Qi Gems, which can be spent on various items, including the sprinkler enhancements.
How to Use Pressure Nozzles
If the range of your iridium sprinkler isn’t sufficient, don’t worry! You can further increase the coverage with pressure nozzles. These attachments increase the range of your sprinklers by one tile in each direction. Here’s the new range for each sprinkler type:
- Basic Sprinklers: Now covers a 3×3 grid, upgrading them to the same power as quality sprinklers.
- Quality Sprinklers: Covers a 5×5 area, matching the coverage of an iridium sprinkler.
- Iridium Sprinklers: Covers a massive 7×7 grid, totaling 48 squares (excluding the tile occupied by the sprinkler itself).
With pressure nozzles, you can even cover the entire greenhouse with just one farmable tile lost to a sprinkler. You can purchase pressure nozzles from Qi’s special shop for 20 gems (four pressure nozzles). Additionally, slimes may rarely drop pressure nozzles while completing the Danger in the Deep quest or after activating the Shrine of Challenge.
How to Use Enrichers
Enrichers are another enhancement for your sprinklers, allowing you to load them with fertilizer and automatically fertilize nearby tilled soil. These enrichers function similarly to chests, storing the fertilizer for easy dispensing. You can purchase enrichers at Qi’s Walnut Room for 20 gems (four enrichers), or you can find them as monster drops while under the effects of Qi’s Skull Cavern quest challenges.
Best Sprinkler Layouts
Now, let’s explore some optimal layouts for your sprinklers. As a rule of thumb, aim to use iridium sprinklers whenever possible for maximum efficiency. Here are two recommended layouts:
- Greenhouse Layout: In the greenhouse, you can place any sprinkler type along the edge of the soil. For nearly complete coverage, follow the layout depicted in the image above from the official Stardew Valley Wiki. This layout allows you to maximize your land without wasting too much space.
- Outdoors Layout: When using sprinklers outdoors, it’s best to keep them as close together as possible without overlapping. With iridium sprinklers, you can cover large spaces efficiently, maximizing every tillable soil tile. For basic sprinklers, try staggering them diagonally instead of placing them in a grid formation, as shown in the image above.
Sprinklers on the First Day of a New Season
On the first day of a new season in Stardew Valley, your previous crops will wither, and most of the tilled soil will return to its untilled state. This means you’ll need to manually re-till and water the soil. So make sure to carry your watering can with you. While sprinklers are a great help, there’s no way around manually caring for your new crops on day one. But for the remaining 27 days of the season, sprinklers will prove their worth.
Are you ready to optimize your farm with a robust sprinkler system? Give these tips a try and watch your crops flourish with minimal effort. Share your favorite sprinkler layouts or ask any questions in the comments below! And don’t forget to share this article with your fellow Stardew Valley farmers on social media.
References
- Stardew Valley Wiki – Sprinklers
- Stardew Valley Wiki – Sprinkler Layouts
- Golden Walnut Guide
- Beach Farm Sprinkler Mod
- Qi’s Walnut Room Rewards
