When it comes to gardening in farm simulation games like Palia, more return with less effort is always better. Sometimes this comes from using higher quality seeds or a sprinkler instead of a watering can. In Singularity 6’s cozy MMO, a new mechanic revolves around companion planting, offering various benefits to growing specific plants near each other. This is our comprehensive Palia companion planting guide, which tells you everything you need to know about the system.
How Companion Planting Works in Palia
Each crop type you can plant has an innate bonus that it offers to the vegetation around it. If you want to increase your tomatoes to be star tomatoes, plant them next to cotton. This works for different types of herbage, however, so planting two carrots next to each other will not give them weed prevention, while planting a carrot next to an onion will give both the boost.
For crops that take up a larger amount of space, such as Apple Trees and Spicy Pepper, you’ll need more of the boosting plants around it for the effect to take hold. For plants that take up four spaces, you need to have two sides with the same boost. For plants that take up a whole garden plot, nine spaces, you’ll need to have the same boost on three sides of the crop.
All Produce Boosts
- Apple Tree: Increased Growth Rate.
- Blueberry: Increased Growth Rate.
- Carrot: Weed Prevention.
- Cotton: Quality Increase.
- Onion: Weed Prevention.
- Potato: Water Retention.
- Rice: Increased Yield.
- Tomato: Water Retention.
- Wheat: Increased Yield.
- Corn: Increased Yield.
- Spicy Pepper: Quality Increase.
The best produce boosts to utilize are Weed Prevention and Water Retention. Each morning at 6 a.m. is when the growth cycle for the day occurs. If a plant needs water or has weeds surrounding it, it won’t grow. These boosts will allow your garden to take care of itself and continuously grow without your attention. If you’re like me and you constantly forget about your garden, this is a lifesaver.
Best Plot Layouts
Gone are the days of planting your whole patch of neatly tilled dirt with one single type of crop. When planning out your soil plots, aim for maximizing the number of boosts for each plant. Every crop, aside from Blueberry and Apple, will be able to boost four plants around it in a + shape with booster plant in the middle.
For example, you want to plant cotton in the middle of your soil patch with potatoes surrounding it. Only the potatoes in the north, south, east, and west positions will get the quality boost. The cotton will get the water retention boost. If you put tomatoes in the corners, all plants will get the water retention bonus due to them being near their companion plant.
Plot layouts have various levels of complexity with the community striving for the most efficient gardens. Each plot should focus on what you are striving for in game, whether it’s money, certain items for crafting, or to complete quests. The official discord has a variety of designs, as well as the subreddit. I strongly encourage you to try making your own patterns and seeing how they work.
That’s how companion planting works in Palia. For more skill walkthroughs or how to complete a variety of quests, check out our growing guide hub.
