How does grass starter work?

[CoLS Firestar]

I mean, it's a starter so grass should grow, right? Or do I just buy a ton of "starter", plop it down on the ground and cut it so I have hay?

[AvatarMan]

You place it in an area with a lot of dirt, and in a couple days it will have spread from that single tile to many. It's not really meant to be an instant effect, though it's cheap enough for you to spam your lawn with it the same.

[Lunari]

Grass will spread from that starter. If you just get one, it tends to grow slowly until it gets to "critical mass"

I would recommend getting a few and spacing them out for the fastest growth.

[NotThatHarkness]

It will grow larger. I bought a bunch of it one year and placed 2-4 or so together in different spots around my farm. The grass eventually grew into fields just like wild grass does.

However if the animals eat it, then it's gone, just like any other tile of grass.

Cutting it into hay immediately strikes me as a huge waste. It would be cheaper to buy hay from Marnie, wouldn't it?

[mcsproot]

Originally posted by TreyNutz:

It will grow larger. I bought a bunch of it one year and placed 2-4 or so together in different spots around my farm. The grass eventually grew into fields just like wild grass does.

However if the animals eat it, then it's gone, just like any other tile of grass.

Cutting it into hay immediately strikes me as a huge waste. It would be cheaper to buy hay from Marnie, wouldn't it?

You can get 4 hay for the price of one grass starter.

I never used the starter really, wild grass appeared on my farm and I just let it grow. I was quite late into getting animals though (Fall year 1).

EDIT: Although you shouldn't be buying hay from Marnie except for dire emergency, as you'll lose money.

[NotThatHarkness]

Originally posted by (M3) mcsproot:

You can get 4 hay for the price of one grass starter.

I never used the starter really, wild grass appeared on my farm and I just let it grow. I was quite late into getting animals though (Fall year 1).

EDIT: Although you shouldn't be buying hay from Marnie except for dire emergency, as you'll lose money.

I didn't start animals until spring year 2. And that was just before the patch that fixed the grass I think. I bought the starter in winter and planted 1st day of spring not really knowing how the new growth rate of the grass was going to turn out, or how much grass I'd get from spring alone. The year before i had cleared all of it, not really knowing better. I wasn't expecting so much to spawn after winter.

[CoLS Firestar]

You really shouldn't be buying hay. Hay must be manually placeed and once taken out of the hopper, it can't be put back in again for some dumb reason.

[Daniel]

if you have not put fence around the coop or the barn, and if you let's her door open and let's the animal free, they go out in the morning by herself and go where the grass are, no need to buy grass starter,

but if you put fence around her house, you need to buy one grass starter and put it inside the fence territory to make her be able to have access to the grass inside the fence territory.

[VerboseLamp]

Originally posted by CoLS Firestar:

You really shouldn't be buying hay. Hay must be manually placeed and once taken out of the hopper, it can't be put back in again for some dumb reason.

That's odd. I've had no problems putting hay back into it again, and the count in the silo seems to go up appropriately.

How you actually manage to defy gravity and shove it all the way back into the silo using your bare hands is a complete mystery, but this community board has revealed bigger ones to me.

[Venom]

my grass starter experience :

1. buy a single grass starter
2. plant it inside fenced coop
3. Release the KRAKEN ... I mean the chicken
4. Grass gone
5. Weep ...

[NotThatHarkness]

Originally posted by CoLS Firestar:

You really shouldn't be buying hay. Hay must be manually placeed and once taken out of the hopper, it can't be put back in again for some dumb reason.

You can add it directly to the silo. I've done that with the hay Marnie's gifted me.

[KatherineOfSky]

Originally posted by TreyNutz:

Originally posted by CoLS Firestar:

You really shouldn't be buying hay. Hay must be manually placeed and once taken out of the hopper, it can't be put back in again for some dumb reason.

You can add it directly to the silo. I've done that with the hay Marnie's gifted me.

Indeed -- you can add both to the silo and to the hopper in the barn/coop. I don't remember if it is a right or left click that puts it back in, but I've done it many many times, so I know it's possible.