Irrigation - Revision history

174.209.195.144: /* via Screw Pump */

2025-07-12T23:45:07Z

via Screw Pump

Silverwing235 at 18:09, 24 March 2025

2025-03-24T18:09:22Z

Zippy at 15:33, 12 January 2024

2024-01-12T15:33:49Z

MichaelRichardson: Added caveat that irrigated Sand will still be poor soil.

2023-12-13T16:14:30Z

Added caveat that irrigated Sand will still be poor soil.

LethosorBot: Tagging v50 page (2310/4888)

2022-12-21T00:34:46Z

Tagging v50 page (2310/4888)

LethosorBot: LethosorBot moved page DF2014:Irrigation to Irrigation: Migrating v50 page (2214/4618) (content)

2022-12-20T03:36:05Z

LethosorBot moved page DF2014:Irrigation to Irrigation: Migrating v50 page (2214/4618) (content)

Zippy at 11:30, 21 July 2022

2022-07-21T11:30:42Z

Silverwing235 at 15:49, 13 January 2021

2021-01-13T15:49:42Z

Silverwing235 at 15:48, 13 January 2021

2021-01-13T15:48:28Z

KyzerB: Added information to bucket irrigation to help new players, as I was personally confused as to what to do before another player told me.

2018-11-10T22:53:17Z

Added information to bucket irrigation to help new players, as I was personally confused as to what to do before another player told me.

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 === via Screw Pump ===
-A [[screw pump]] can be used to lift water and dump it into a chamber directly next to the water source. There are many ways to go about this, but one particularly simple, easy, and safe method requires a chamber dug out or constructed next to a body of water, with an outlet to allow it to drain back to its source. If the water the pump is free to collect water to spread inside, the water is contained by barriers, and water in the area is free to drain out, nearly any size area can be irrigated quickly and without danger.
+A [[screw pump]] can be used to lift water and dump it into a chamber directly next to the water source. There are many ways to go about this, but one particularly simple, easy, and safe method requires a chamber dug out or constructed next to a body of water, with an outlet to allow it to drain back to its source. If the water pump is free to collect water to spread inside, the water is contained by barriers, and water in the area is free to drain out, nearly any size area can be irrigated quickly and without danger.
 This method is most useful around rivers that pass by or through hills, or through canyons, as irrigation isn't much use on most outdoor tiles. If terrain at a higher elevation than the river isn't available nearby, water can drain through a tunnel down to the caverns or toward the edge of the map, instead. Although the edge of the map cannot be dug out, it can be smoothed and carved into fortifications. Fortifications allow water to pass through, providing easy drainage at any depth.

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 [[File:irrigation_preview.png|thumb|270px|right|It's like Gatorade for plants.]]'''Irrigation''' is the process of applying water to terrain - making it muddy, in order to make it suitable for farming, where it otherwise wouldn't be. [[Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and [[soil]]. In ''Dwarf Fortress'', 'irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain for farming purposes. Once your floor is successfully muddied, no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow accidentally remove the mud (by building a [[construction|constructed]] floor or chopping down a [[tree]], for instance).  Please note that irrigating Soil will not improve the quality (ie. irrigated Sand will still be poor quality, while irrigated Rock is standard quality).
-Any amount of water dropped, pumped, or otherwise transported onto a tile will leave behind at least 'a dusting of mud', and this is sufficient for farming. Farm plots cannot be built on terrain with [[water depth|a water level of more than 1/7]], and more mud has no apparent effect on farm output, so it's best to use a minimum of water to irrigate.
+Any amount of water dropped, pumped, or otherwise transported onto a tile will leave behind at least 'a dusting of mud', which is sufficient for farming. Farm plots cannot be built on terrain with [[water depth|a water level of more than 1/7]], and more mud has no apparent effect on farm output, so it's best to use a minimum of water to irrigate.
 Irrigation is especially useful in [[biome]]s with little soil, and deep underground. However, no amount of irrigation will make it possible to grow surface plants in a hostile [[biome]], such as [[mountain]]s-this is a matter of climate, not soil conditions.
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 [[Cavern|In certain conditions]], irrigation can convert rock floors into soil floors. This can be useful for transporting valuable soil like [[fire clay]] or [[sand]] closer to [[magma]].
-== Easy Irrigation ==
+== Easy irrigation ==
 At its simplest, all that's required for irrigation is a water source, a drop-off point, and a dwarf with a bucket.
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 There are two approaches to reducing the final water level, without using pumps. One is to leave plenty of room. If the area to be irrigated is 5-6 times the size of the pool, the water inside will evaporate on its own, even in [[temperate]] climates. The other way is to leave a route for the water to flow out. If the pool and the dug out area are separate, [[mining|channeling]] can be used to connect them with no danger of drowning.
-== Complex Irrigation ==
+== Complex irrigation ==
 The following methods of irrigation take longer to build, but they can be more powerful, better-looking, and, of course, much more [[fun]].

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 {{Quality|Unrated}}
 {{av}}
-[[File:irrigation_preview.png|thumb|270px|right|It's like Gatorade for plants.]][[Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and [[soil]]. Any terrain can be made muddy, and therefore suitable for farming, by dumping water on it. In ''Dwarf Fortress'', 'irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain that isn't useful for farming, in order to make it so. Once your floor is successfully muddied, no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow accidentally remove the mud (by building a [[construction|constructed]] floor or chopping down a [[tree]], for instance).  Please note that irrigating Soil will not improve the quality (ie. irrigated Sand will still be poor quality, while irrigated Rock is standard quality).
+[[File:irrigation_preview.png|thumb|270px|right|It's like Gatorade for plants.]]'''Irrigation''' is the process of applying water to terrain - making it muddy, in order to make it suitable for farming, where it otherwise wouldn't be. [[Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and [[soil]]. In ''Dwarf Fortress'', 'irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain for farming purposes. Once your floor is successfully muddied, no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow accidentally remove the mud (by building a [[construction|constructed]] floor or chopping down a [[tree]], for instance).  Please note that irrigating Soil will not improve the quality (ie. irrigated Sand will still be poor quality, while irrigated Rock is standard quality).
 Any amount of water dropped, pumped, or otherwise transported onto a tile will leave behind at least 'a dusting of mud', and this is sufficient for farming. Farm plots cannot be built on terrain with [[water depth|a water level of more than 1/7]], and more mud has no apparent effect on farm output, so it's best to use a minimum of water to irrigate.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{Quality|Unrated}}
 {{av}}
-[[File:irrigation_preview.png|thumb|270px|right|It's like Gatorade for plants.]][[Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and [[soil]]. Any terrain can be made muddy, and therefore suitable for farming, by dumping water on it. In ''Dwarf Fortress'', 'irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain that isn't useful for farming, in order to make it so. Once your floor is successfully muddied, no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow accidentally remove the mud (by building a [[construction|constructed]] floor or chopping down a [[tree]], for instance).
+[[File:irrigation_preview.png|thumb|270px|right|It's like Gatorade for plants.]][[Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and [[soil]]. Any terrain can be made muddy, and therefore suitable for farming, by dumping water on it. In ''Dwarf Fortress'', 'irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain that isn't useful for farming, in order to make it so. Once your floor is successfully muddied, no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow accidentally remove the mud (by building a [[construction|constructed]] floor or chopping down a [[tree]], for instance).  Please note that irrigating Soil will not improve the quality (ie. irrigated Sand will still be poor quality, while irrigated Rock is standard quality).
 Any amount of water dropped, pumped, or otherwise transported onto a tile will leave behind at least 'a dusting of mud', and this is sufficient for farming. Farm plots cannot be built on terrain with [[water depth|a water level of more than 1/7]], and more mud has no apparent effect on farm output, so it's best to use a minimum of water to irrigate.

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-{{Quality|Masterwork|23:39, 27 April 2013 (UTC)}}
+{{migrated article}}
 {{av}}
 [[File:irrigation_preview.png|thumb|270px|right|It's like Gatorade for plants.]][[Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and [[soil]]. Any terrain can be made muddy, and therefore suitable for farming, by dumping water on it. In ''Dwarf Fortress'', 'irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain that isn't useful for farming, in order to make it so. Once your floor is successfully muddied, no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow accidentally remove the mud (by building a [[construction|constructed]] floor or chopping down a [[tree]], for instance).

← Older revision	Revision as of 03:36, 20 December 2022
(No difference)

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 Any amount of water dropped, pumped, or otherwise transported onto a tile will leave behind at least 'a dusting of mud', and this is sufficient for farming. Farm plots cannot be built on terrain with [[water depth|a water level of more than 1/7]], and more mud has no apparent effect on farm output, so it's best to use a minimum of water to irrigate.
-Irrigation is especially useful in [[biome]]s with little soil, and deep underground. However, no amount of irrigation will make it possible to grow surface plants in a hostile [[biome]], such as mountains. This is a matter of climate, not soil conditions.
+Irrigation is especially useful in [[biome]]s with little soil, and deep underground. However, no amount of irrigation will make it possible to grow surface plants in a hostile [[biome]], such as [[mountain]]s-this is a matter of climate, not soil conditions.
 Farm plots which overlap unsuitable ground will be irregularly-shaped, but still usable. (However, note that when placing an outdoor farm plot, the game will always erroneously report that there is no usable mud/soil. This is a bug - if the plot is green it will function correctly.)

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 {{av}}
-[[Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and [[soil]]. Any terrain can be made muddy, and therefore suitable for farming, by dumping water on it. In Dwarf Fortress, 'Irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain that isn't useful for farming, in order to make it so. Once your floor is successfully muddied no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow remove the mud (by building a [[construction|constructed]] floor or chopping down a [[tree]], for instance).
+[[Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and [[soil]]. Any terrain can be made muddy, and therefore suitable for farming, by dumping water on it. In ''Dwarf Fortress'', 'irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain that isn't useful for farming, in order to make it so. Once your floor is successfully muddied, no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow accidentally remove the mud (by building a [[construction|constructed]] floor or chopping down a [[tree]], for instance).
 Any amount of water dropped, pumped, or otherwise transported onto a tile will leave behind at least 'a dusting of mud', and this is sufficient for farming. Farm plots cannot be built on terrain with [[water depth|a water level of more than 1/7]], and more mud has no apparent effect on farm output, so it's best to use a minimum of water to irrigate.
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 Farm plots which overlap unsuitable ground will be irregularly-shaped, but still usable. (However, note that when placing an outdoor farm plot, the game will always erroneously report that there is no usable mud/soil. This is a bug - if the plot is green it will function correctly.)
-Sadly, [[magma]] cannot be used to irrigate, as it does not leave behind mud. It's usually best <s>not</s> to confuse molten rock and liquid water, although the use of both in tandem may help with schemes to irrigate [[glacier]]s.
+Sadly, [[magma]] cannot be used to irrigate, as it clearly does not leave behind mud. It's usually best <s>not</s> to confuse molten rock and liquid water, although the use of both in tandem may help with schemes to irrigate [[glacier]]s.
-All types of [[soil]] can be farmed with no need for irrigation, even [[sand]]. Irrigation is '''''not''''' required for farming. Any soil underground can be used to farm; irrigation is only required on stone. Be careful however: if the stone beneath mud is designated for smoothing, the dwarves will not smooth it, but they will proceed to clean the mud, which will make the farm plot unusable.
+All types of [[soil]] can be farmed with no need for irrigation, even [[sand]]. Irrigation is '''''not''''' required for farming. Any underground soil can be used to farm; irrigation is only required on stone. Be careful, however: if the stone beneath mud is designated for smoothing, the dwarves will not smooth it, but proceed to clean the mud instead, which will make the farm plot unusable.
 [[Cavern|In certain conditions]], irrigation can convert rock floors into soil floors. This can be useful for transporting valuable soil like [[fire clay]] or [[sand]] closer to [[magma]].

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 This method relies on [[activity zone]]s, as water for irrigation can't simply be dropped on the ground, but must fall from the level above.
-Step one: Designate a water source activity zone over the edge of a body of water. In a saltwater biome, a [[well]] must be constructed, instead.
+'''Step one:''' Designate a water source activity zone over the edge of a body of water. In a saltwater biome, a [[well]] must be constructed, instead.
-Step two: Dig out or construct a drop-off point just above where you want your farms to be. This most often takes the form of a balcony, catwalk, or scaffolding. Alternately, [[mining|channel]] out a shaft and/or staircase all the way up to the surface. Water can safely fall any distance.
+'''Step two:''' Dig out or construct a drop-off point just above where you want your farms to be. This most often takes the form of a balcony, catwalk, or scaffolding - anything with open space dwarves can reach (adjacent floor tiles) to pour water down into. Because of how underground Z-levels work (there's a hidden layer between every Z-level), the easiest way to do this if you are underground is to simply dig an area above where you want the farms and [[channel]] a hole in the floor. This will remove the hidden layer, and allow dwarves to pour water down the hole, since it creates "empty space". Water can safely fall any distance.
-Step three: Designate a [[activity zone#Pit/Pond|pit/pond zone]] at the drop-off point, or several if you'd prefer speed over conservation of buckets. By default, these zones are pits; make sure to switch them to ponds, and to remove them once you have all the mud you need.
+'''Step three:''' Designate a [[activity zone#Pit/Pond|pit/pond zone]] at the drop-off point, or several if you'd prefer speed over conservation of buckets. By default, these zones are pits; make sure to switch them to ponds, and to remove them once you have all the mud you need.  You will know when the ground is suitable for farming when it has water sprites on it, though check and make sure the tiles say something regarding mud (using the look (k) function)
 That's it!