Seed

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Looking for information on world generation seeds? See Advanced world generation.

For information on seed management, see How do I manage my seeds and crops?

Seeds are used in farming to grow crops - some can be used to make oil. They can be stored in bags (100 seeds per bag), which can in turn be stored in barrels or pots (10 bags per barrel/pot). Different seeds generally can't be mixed within a bag, so storing seeds of 10 different types requires 10 (or more) different bags (though a bug does cause dwarves to combine seeds occasionally).

Seeds can be brought on embark or obtained by trading. They can also be produced from plants (acquired by plant gathering or growing the respective crops). When a plant is eaten or used in brewing, milling or plant processing, it leaves one or two plantable seeds (see below for details). The exceptions are valley herb and kobold bulb, which will not leave behind seeds after processing. Cooking plants in a kitchen never produces seeds.

Tree seeds cannot currently be planted, though a few varieties, such as macadamia nuts and walnuts, are edible or cookable. Some seeds do not have a sprite assigned to them.

However, presently dwarves will rather starve than eat a seed raw. Sadly, some seeds are completely worthless, based on them being unfarmable, inedible, and not processable. For the moment these can be dumped/sold freely.

Seed List

Seed type	Graphic	Edible Raw	Cookable	Farmable	Vermin Edible	Oil Seed	Raws/Menu Order	Worthless?
Abaca seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	092	Yes
Acacia seeds		No	Yes	No	Yes	No	153	No
Acorns		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	152	No
Alfalfa seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	009	No
Almonds		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	119	No
Apple seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	120	Yes
Apricot pits		No	No	No	Yes	No	121	Yes
Artichoke seeds		No	No	Yes	Yes	No	035	No
Asparagus seeds		No	No	Yes	Yes	No	036	No
Avocado pits		No	No	No	Yes	No	103	Yes
Bambara groundnut		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	037	No
Banana seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	093	Yes
Barley seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	006	No
Bayberry seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	122	Yes
Beet seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	040	No
Bilberry seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	087	No
Bitter melon seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	041	No
Bitter orange seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	108	Yes
Bitter vetch seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	016	No
Blackberry seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	089	No
Blade weed seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	147	No
Bloated tuber seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	139	No
Blood amaranth seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	018	No
Blueberry seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	088	No
Broad bean		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	039	No
Buckwheat seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	007	No
Cabbage seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	042	No
Cacao beans		No	Yes	No	No	No	157	No
Candlenuts		No	Yes	No	Yes	No	155	No
Caper seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	043	No
Carambola seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	094	Yes
Carrot seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	044	No
Cashews		No	No	No	Yes	No	095	Yes
Cassava seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	045	No
Cave wheat seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	135	No
Celery seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	046	No
Cherry pits		No	No	No	Yes	No	123	Yes
Chestnuts		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	154	No
Chickpea		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	047	No
Chicory seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	048	No
Citron seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	106	Yes
Coffee beans		No	No	No	No	No	096	Yes
Cotton seeds		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	031	No
Cowpea		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	049	No
Cranberry seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	086	No
Cucumber seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	050	No
Custard-apple seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	113	Yes
Date palm seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	114	Yes
Desert lime seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	111	Yes
Dimple cup spawn		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	146	No
Durian seeds		No	Yes	No	Yes	No	097	No
Eggplant seeds		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	051	No
Elephant-head amaranth seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	021	No
Finger lime seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	109	Yes
Finger millet		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	024	No
Fisher berry seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	144	No
Flax seeds		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	028	No
Fonio		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	026	No
Foxtail millet		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	025	No
Garden cress seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	052	No
Garlic seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	053	No
Ginkgo seeds		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	124	No
Grape seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	085	No
Guava seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	098	Yes
Hard wheat seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	004	No
Hazel nuts		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	125	No
Hemp seeds		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	030	No
Hide root seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	148	No
Horned melon seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	054	No
Jute seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	029	No
Kaniwa seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	015	No
Kenaf seeds		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	033	No
Kumquat seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	112	Yes
Leek seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	055	No
Lentil		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	056	No
Lesser yam seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	080	No
Lettuce seeds		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	057	No
Lime seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	104	Yes
Long yam seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	081	No
Longland grass seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	142	No
Lychee seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	115	Yes
Macadamia nuts		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	116	No
Maize		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	013	No
Mango pits		No	No	No	Yes	No	156	Yes
Muck root seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	138	No
Mung bean		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	058	No
Muskmelon seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	059	No
Oats seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	008	No
Olive pits		No	No	No	Yes	No	117	Yes
Onion seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	060	No
Orange seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	107	Yes
Papaya seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	099	Yes
Papyrus sedge seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	034	No
Paradise nuts		No	No	No	Yes	No	100	Yes
Parsnip seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	061	No
Passion fruit seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	084	No
Peas		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	062	No
Peach pits		No	No	No	Yes	No	126	Yes
Peanuts		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	063	No
Pear seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	127	Yes
Pearl millet		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	022	No
Pecans		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	128	No
Pendant amaranth seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	017	No
Pepper seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	064	No
Persimmon seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	129	Yes
Pig tail seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	134	No
Pineapple seeds		No	No	Yes	Yes	No	091	No
Plum pits		No	No	No	Yes	No	130	Yes
Plump helmet spawn		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	133	No
Pomegranate seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	118	Yes
Pomelo seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	105	Yes
Potato seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	065	No
Prickle berry seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	140	No
Purple amaranth seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	019	No
Purple yam seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	082	No
Quinoa seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	014	No
Radish seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	066	No
Rambutan seeds		No	Yes	No	Yes	No	101	No
Ramie seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	032	No
Raspberry seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	090	No
Rat weed seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	143	No
Red beans		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	067	No
Red spinach seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	020	No
Rhubarb seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	068	No
Rice		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	012	No
Rock nuts		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	137	No
Rope reed seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	145	No
Round lime seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	110	Yes
Rye seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	010	No
Sand pear seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	131	Yes
Single-grain wheat seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	001	No
Sliver barb seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	149	No
Soft wheat seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	003	No
Sorghum seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	011	No
Soybean		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	069	No
Spelt seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	005	No
Spinach seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	070	No
Squash seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	071	No
Strawberry seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	141	No
String bean		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	038	No
Sun berry seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	150	No
Sweet pod seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	136	No
Sweet potato seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	072	No
Taro seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	073	No
Tea seeds		No	No	No	Yes	No	102	Yes
Teff		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	027	No
Tomatillo seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	075	No
Tomato seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	074	No
Turnip seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	076	No
Two-grain wheat seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	002	No
Urad beans		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	077	No
Walnuts		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	132	No
Watermelon seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	078	No
Whip vine seeds		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	151	No
White millet		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	023	No
White yam seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	083	No
Winter melon seeds		No	No	Yes	No	No	079	No

Seed Production

Seeds are produced by brewing (at a still), milling (at a millstone or quern), processing (at a farmer's workshop), or by dwarves eating the plants raw (uncooked). For information on where to grow, gather, or process specific plants, consult the specific plant's page or the general crops page.

In order to prevent your fortress becoming cluttered with millions of seeds, there is a cap of 200 seeds for each plant type and a global cap of 3000 seeds. Seed-producing activities will only produce seeds if your fortress contains fewer than 200 seeds of that type. You can exceed the 200 seed cap by buying seeds from caravans, and seed production will restart when your stocks fall below 200. Seed production is not affected by the global cap; rather, the oldest seeds in the fortress will be periodically removed to remain at or around 3000. Note that this removal may affect "strategic seed stockpiles" (i.e. seeds forbidden for use in case of typical dwarven culinary stupidity), any crops that you grow only occasionally, and potentially any crops which have been prevented from producing seeds by the specific type cap. Both of these limits can be modified in the d_init.txt file.

Note: In case you are confused about getting spam of messages like "Urist McFarmer cancels Plant seeds: Needs [seed name]", while you are sure that you have enough seeds, no burrow restrictions or closed doors, the reason for this is most likely: the haulers see a seed somewhere and take the whole seed bag from stockpile to go pick it up, making the farmer cancel his job. The problem is exacerbated when barrels are used on the seed stockpile, because the dwarves will additionally store the seed bags inside barrels, blocking even more seeds during each hauling job and extending hauling jobs by first bringing the seed bag to the seed, then returning to the stockpile, picking up the barrel to bring it to the bag, storing the bag in the barrel and only then bringing the barrel bag to the stockpile. During all this time, the seed barrel and all its contents will be blocked from access by any other job.

You can simply disallow barrels from the stockpile, which requires a somewhat larger stockpile but makes seed collection jobs much shorter and less disruptive. Bags will always be used to store seeds in stockpiles, you cannot forbid that.

Another way to deal with this problem is this: set up 2 seed stockpiles, with the larger (primary) one set to only accept items from links (a). Set the secondary (smaller) pile to take from anywhere and give to the main stockpile. Now, when a seed shows up in your dining room or brewery, the dwarves should try to put it into the secondary pile first, which shouldn't have anything in it for long (so no bag for world tour). Once the seed arrives in the secondary stockpile, a new job will be created, moving the seed over into the main stockpile. Now the bag will be picked up to move that seed into it, but if the piles are next to each other it should only be in transit for a few seconds reducing the likelihood of cancellation spam.

As a workaround, you can finally make use of the peculiarities of stockpile commands: setting a stockpile to "take" from a mill, still or farmer's workshop will prevent the workshop from sending its products to any other stockpile. If the stockpile in question doesn't accept seeds, all seeds produced by the workshop will stay in the building, readily accessible to farmers. This can be handy if the workshop is directly adjacent to the farm plot, but can cause cluttering of the workshop if other products like barrels of booze aren't moved out of the shop regularly.

"Seed" in other Languages Dwarven: lenod Elven: are Goblin: ösmosp Human: ase

Bugs

• Dwarves compulsively store seeds in bags.^Bug:7869
• Planted seeds removed from field by seed cap.^Bug:8107
• Seeds carried by merchants count against fortress seed cap.^Bug:8108
• Conflict between the two seed caps can remove an entire type of seed.^Bug:8091
• Dye stored in barrels without bags.^Bug:9219 This bug is believed to apply to seeds as well, based on the 01/19/2016 dev-log note: "stop dumping dye/flour/seed/etc. bags out into barrels improperly".

Some seeds are edible, either raw or cooked.

Raws

[MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SEED_TEMPLATE] [STATE_COLOR:ALL_SOLID:BROWN] [STATE_NAME:ALL_SOLID:seed] [STATE_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:seed] [STATE_COLOR:LIQUID:BROWN] [STATE_NAME:LIQUID:none] [STATE_ADJ:LIQUID:none] [STATE_COLOR:GAS:BROWN] [STATE_NAME:GAS:none] [STATE_ADJ:GAS:none] [DISPLAY_COLOR:6:0:0] [MATERIAL_VALUE:1] [SPEC_HEAT:800] [IGNITE_POINT:10400] [MELTING_POINT:NONE] [BOILING_POINT:NONE] [HEATDAM_POINT:10500] [COLDDAM_POINT:9900] [MAT_FIXED_TEMP:NONE] [SOLID_DENSITY:600] [LIQUID_DENSITY:NONE] [MOLAR_MASS:NONE] [IMPACT_YIELD:10000] [IMPACT_FRACTURE:10000] [IMPACT_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:1000] [COMPRESSIVE_YIELD:10000] [COMPRESSIVE_FRACTURE:10000] [COMPRESSIVE_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:1000] [TENSILE_YIELD:10000] [TENSILE_FRACTURE:10000] [TENSILE_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:1000] [TORSION_YIELD:10000] [TORSION_FRACTURE:10000] [TORSION_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:1000] [SHEAR_YIELD:40000] used pine [SHEAR_FRACTURE:40000] [SHEAR_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:1000] [BENDING_YIELD:10000] [BENDING_FRACTURE:10000] [BENDING_STRAIN_AT_YIELD:1000] [MAX_EDGE:1000] [ABSORPTION:100] [SEED_MAT] [DO_NOT_CLEAN_GLOB]

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Plant	Fiber (Paper • Slurry) • Flower • Fruit • Leaf • Oil • Plant powders (Dye • Flour • Sugar) • Seed (Press cake) • Wood
Creature/Plant	Alcohol • Cloth/Thread • Extract (Golden salve • Gnomeblight • Honey • Royal jelly • Syrup • Venom) • Glob • Liquids • Soap
Inorganic	Metal • Milk of lime • Soil (Clay • Sand) • Stone (Ash glaze • Earthenware • Gem • Gypsum plaster • Porcelain • Quicklime • Stoneware • Tin glaze)
Hardcoded	Amber • Ash • Coral • Filth • Fuel • Glass • Grime • Ice • Lye • Magma • Mud • Pearlash • Potash • Salt • Unknown substance • Vomit • Water
See also: Material science