What temperature do crops start dying off in Rimworld?

[rolypolyman]

I have some outdoors fields and I'm trying to figure out how to let them go as long as possible into the late fall before I rush out and harvest what I have. How cold does it need to get before I risk losing crops?

I do realize that lower temperature slows down growth. I'm more concerned what temperature it takes for the cold to kill off plants. I'm thinking of things like psychite, hay, hops, etc. I've found they can take temperatures down to 20-30F at least for awhile. Since it does get up to 40-50F during the day I'm trying to see how long things can go.

[Astasia]

Around -10C with some variation. Anything below 0C is "unsafe" pretty much, a few might die by around -5C, many will die around -10C, most will die by around -15C.

Healroot is the only "crop" that follows different rules, it starts dying at around -30C I think.

[Metalhead123]

Depends on the Biome. If you are in a Desert you can grow all year round. Anything else crops will die off when late fall and winter hit. The best approach i found is just limit pawns to simple meals using only meat. Save all veggies for your Animals to get them through winter. Depends if you are farming animals too. About -6 ish yes crops might start perishing.

[Kittenpox]

Came here to say -10˚C, but Astasia has that covered. ^_^

One way of tackling this situation, if your farmers are busy, but your builders are not, is to temporarily make the fields become indoors (probably via wooden walls), and use campfires to keep the interior warm.
Sure, the plants will stop growing due to a lack of sunlight, but they were already doing that due to the cold.
^ It's not a perfect solution, of course, but if your favourite horticulturalist is laying in a medical bed then this *might* buy you a little more time.

Originally posted by Metalhead123:

The best approach i found is just limit pawns to simple meals using only meat. Save all veggies for your Animals to get them through winter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-3GcucTuuI

[hardy_conrad]

I think I have a reasonably good grip on when temperatures will kill crops, the little i button will provide information on that. However I've noticed that even if I live in a biome with a year-round growing season like a jungle, when there's a cold snap it'll stop me from planting. Seems a bit weird, as I'll wait until after the snap has ended but even after the temperature is back to safe it'll block planting for a day or two.

[G0emi]

Originally posted by hardy_conrad:

I think I have a reasonably good grip on when temperatures will kill crops, the little i button will provide information on that. However I've noticed that even if I live in a biome with a year-round growing season like a jungle, when there's a cold snap it'll stop me from planting. Seems a bit weird, as I'll wait until after the snap has ended but even after the temperature is back to safe it'll block planting for a day or two.

Have you ever tried planting something in a cold / iced soil by hand? Have fun trying that, can recommend. It also takes time for the soil to warm up again and make it easier /possible to plant stuff again. Rimworld is doing a great job at that imo.

[hardy_conrad]

Permafrost so to speak eh? I can get that.

[G0emi]

No ... Permafrost is when soil is below 0 for more than 2 years. The clue is in the name, "permanent frozen". You don't need permafrosted soil to have it being hard to work with at low temperatures.

And to go back to topic for a second. As mentioned before, the information button, when selecting a crop in the ground, does a good job in telling about the growth period for it. Most of them die if you go even further outside of that temperature, tho I personally never had any temperatures higher than whats usually their upper growth limit xD

[BlunderingFool]

Originally posted by G0emi:

...tho I personally never had any temperatures higher than whats usually their upper growth limit xD

Ever had a heatwave on extreme desert in summer? I haven't yet but I DO dread the day it happens and everyone basically melts. =P

[G0emi]

Don't jinx it, I just started a game in the desert x'D But I may be lucky, Mr Random Tile Chooser chose me a tile in a -4 to +24°C range so I may or may not get lucky on that.
Also, what could go wrong? I got stylish cowboy hats :P ... and currently a storage full of corn.

[Astasia]

Originally posted by G0emi:

Most of them die if you go even further outside of that temperature, tho I personally never had any temperatures higher than whats usually their upper growth limit xD

Plants never die directly from heat, unless they are literally on fire. If it gets too hot their growth just slows down and then stops. If it's hot enough for long enough plants can hit their max lifespan without reaching full growth, then they can die from old age without producing anything. You don't have to worry about a desert heatwave killing off your crops though.

[hardy_conrad]

I play in jungles where it can get toasty but not THAT toasty. In real life I've always felt heatwaves are scarier than cold snaps, since if you're too cold you can warm up by just throwing on more clothes or jumping around whereas when it's super hot you're out of luck. Couple years back a town a few hours from where I live made the news because it burned to a crisp and was the hottest place on earth, despite being in Canada (it was called Lytton). That summer was really, really bad even though I was to the north. Extreme heat is not to be trifled with at all.