In Old School RuneScape, Farming is a skill that you can use to harvest crops and plant seeds. These harvested items serve a variety of purposes and can also be sold for profit. OSRS focuses heavily on doing tree runs for Farming Training. Instead of training the skill for hours, you can spend a few minutes for a run and gain a lot of farming experience during that time. However, it is only possible to do 1-2 runs in a day.
Plants grow at a constant rate and continue to grow even after you have logged out. The crops grown in farming patches are only accessible to the player who grew them which is especially useful for wood bearing trees as they can be chopped down for wood logs and wood cutting experience without having to worry about somebody else looting your property. One thing to keep in mind is that tree runs cost money and it is a good idea to stack up on some gold coins before jumping on the farming training. Additionally, you should look into some money making methods in order to sustain the cost of Farming Training.
Farming Equipment:
First things first, farming training can not be done with bare hands. From clearing patches to digging up dead plants, you are going to need specific tools designed to aid you in your task. Some of the more commonly used farming equipment includes Spade, Rake, Watering can, Secateurs, Seed dibber and Gardening Trowel among others. You can buy this equipment from one of the many farming shops located throughout RuneScape.
Quests:
A great way to skip through the earlier low yield levels of training is by completing quests. You can complete the following quests to gain enough experience that will get you straight to Level 35 farming.
- Fairytale I – Growing Pains (This alone takes you straight to Level 17)
- Recipe For Disaster – Goblins Generals Subquest
- Forgettable Tale of the Drunken Dwarf
- Enlightened Journey
- Garden of Tranquility
- My Arm’s Big Adventure
All of these quests give you 22,500 experience points combined which will get you to Level 35.
However, if you are not interested in completing these quests, you can start with the following alternatives.
Levels 1–15:
A great way to breeze through Levels 1-15 is by making supercompost or ultracompost. Creating supercompost in a compost bin is one of the easiest methods for new farmers. All you need to do is pick up some Watermelons and Pineapples from the Trader Stan’s Trading Post and get straight down to business. A bucket of supercompost will give you 8.5 farming experience. However, you can increase that to 10 if you add volcanic ash to the bucket which will create ultracompost.
Another option is to plant Bagged plants in your Player Owned House (POH). This is one of the most efficient methods to train farming but can be a little expensive.
Another great option is making Sulphurous Fertilizers. 950 or these fertilizers will get you to level 13 fairly easily. Keep in mind that you are going to need 5% favor in Hosidius House in order to make Sulphurous fertilizers.
Level 15-99:
Tree Runs:
Tree runs become fairly viable when you get to Level 15. This is a passive training method and the most effective way to gain farming experience. It is recommended to go for the highest-tier trees as they are the most rewarding. There are a total of six tree patch locations in Varrock, Falador, Lumbridge, Taverley, Gnome Stronghold and Farming Guild.
For each of these, you are going to need 1 tress sapling of the tree you are growing. A sapling can be bought from the Grand exchange or can be made by using a seed on a plant pot that is filled with soil. This will create a seedling which you can then water to turn into a sapling. This sapling can then be planted into a tree patch.
Trees take some time to grow and you can only do 1-2 tree runs in a day. However, over time, this turns out to be a lot faster than all the other methods and you can essentially train other skills as your trees grow. Once your trees have fully grown, you need to check if they are free from any disease and then pay the farmer to chop them down. If you are fairly consistent, it should take you no more than three to four months to get to level 99.
Fruit Tree Runs:
Old School RuneScape features six fruit tree patches in Brimhaven, Gnome Stronghold, Catherby, Tree Gnome Village, Lletya and Farming Guild.
Just like tree runs, you can buy the saplings directly from the Grand exchange or create them yourself. A fully grown healthy fruit tree continues to produce fruits every 45 minutes if it is not cut down and each tree can be harvested to receive 6 fruits.
Herb Runs:
As you are waiting for the trees to grow, you can do herb runs to gain more experience. Although not as rewarding as tree runs, herb runs take a lot less time and certain high-level herbs like Torstols can be very profitable. It is a good idea to treat herb patches with ultracompost to minimize the chances of diseases.
Tips and Tricks:
It is a good idea to pay the farmer to look after your trees to make sure they stay healthy. However if you are tight on budget, you should at least treat the patch with ultracompost.
You should also pay the farmer to chop down your trees instead of doing it yourself as it is a lot faster and reasonably cheap.
If you are not in a rush, you should stick to farm fruit trees and hardwood trees as they are much cheaper than regular trees.
Instead of creating your own saplings, buying them from the Grand Exchange is a lot faster. However, if you have level 68 Magic you can use the Humidify spell to water the seedlings a lot faster.
More OSRS Quests: