How to plant trees in desert?

[Squirting Elephant]

I planted some dirt (earth) on the top level. But after 3 days, not 1 tree. And the default trees on the default blocks spawn so slow...

I don't have enough wood for my ladders so I can't really dig efficiently...

[KatherineOfSky]

I definitely agree with the sentiment -- I've replaced at least 30 blocks of sand with dirt in hopes that trees will grow.... but they are WAY too slow. Devs -- please fix!

[Squirting Elephant]

This topic was already solved. I should have deleted it...

You can just rush 'tree-magic spell' and if you get it on low level you max out on 999 wood (convert to planks) before level 10.

At least you did grow some trees on dirt though. Mine grew 0.

[KatherineOfSky]

I'm on the "Basic Constructing" tech -- Magic Forest is waaaaay too far off! I think I'll just wait til it's been balanced -- it gets quite boring when there's no advancement :-/

[Squirting Elephant]

You can rush technology really fast though by using recycling and by crafting the proper items. 90% of the items in the first 80% of the tree will never be used anyway.

[KatherineOfSky]

I always recycle, and make one of each item to maximize the benefit. I don't like to use gold to purchase items at the store, though, feels a little like "cheating", but I had to break down and buy wood...

[Moss]

Use dirt

[Vector3D]

The only way I figured out how to avoid the tornado
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3216194330

[stylez]

Originally posted by Vector 3:

The only way I figured out how to avoid the tornado
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3216194330

This thread is nearly 10 years old...and nobody was talking about the tornado...

[Vector3D]

Originally posted by stylez:

Originally posted by Vector 3:

The only way I figured out how to avoid the tornado
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3216194330

This thread is nearly 10 years old...and nobody was talking about the tornado...

But you can get trees in the Desert this way

[Spirit]

i did the tree planting underground , all you need is a large enough cave and light
a little dirt and a few slivers of water
and holy sith ... THATs a necro ...

[Alkali Ali]

Originally posted by Spirit:

i did the tree planting underground , all you need is a large enough cave and light
a little dirt and a few slivers of water
and holy sith ... THATs a necro ...

Do you mean you water your underground dirt or what do you mean by that?

This thread may be old but 2025 and I'm struggling with wood.

[obieoverhulse]

You might think trees would just naturally grow over time, but in this game it seems to be tied to removing or mining other objects and blocks. It feels like tree "growth" is more like something new spawning in - in this case a new section of tree trunk to push the others upward.

Place earth blocks near your base and cast the forest spell as soon as you unlock it. Tornado won't rip up the earth blocks if there's a tree on top.

To encourage more tree growth, mine out more blocks, chop leaves, cut webs, etc. (I didn't look at the code because I don't have that skill, but this seems to be the way tree growth works)

You can also try to save on wood by purchasing a bucket early (1 gold coin), skipping wooden armor, and only building wooden things as needed to advance the tree. Slime torches instead of wooden torches helps too.