Easy Optimised Farm Build Guide

[TiffDust]

The aim of this guide to help players build efficient farms. I've seen some wild farms in my time and i'll dill with it, you must love those plants to give them a light for each planter. I like to place heaters, pumps, splitters etc up high so they don't get in the way when running and doing a harvest. TLDR: 1 light and 2 sprinklers for 4 planters. 12 planters to 1 water pump.  [Warning: this guide contains puns.]

Why would i optimise my build?

• It's cheap to make and cheaper to upkeep.
• It's friendly for potato computers or for those who complain about things.
• It's quicker to build and less to wire up which means more playing and planting earlier.

Where to build a farm.

Fresh water makes an easy farm build, it makes an efficient build.

• Near a lake or a river (obviously don't block water access and modify the build to allow boats to pass where needed.)
• On or near a swamp (watch out for pockets of salt water than can occur.)

If there's no space and there's a shrek in the swamp, look into salt water conversion and modify as needed. I highly recommend watching this.
I will however continue the guide as if i'm building near fresh water.

What do i need for this build? Let’s come up with a plant.

You'll find the hose tool and electric tool are default bps requiring hqm and a workbench level 1 to make.
Enough wood to build, building plan and a salvage hammer(knocks out mistakes and picks up placeables.)
Tool cupboard, door and keypads to keep your farm and plants safe.
Avoid windows, prison cells and chainlink as much as possible, they'll slow down your build and increase your costs and upkeep.

Items per level:
Planters: 36
Sprinklers: 18
Water pumps: 3
Fluid switch and pump: 3
Ceiling lights: 9

Total Items for 3 levels and crafting costs:
Planters: 108 (21600 wood, 216 tarps or 3240 scrap from bandit camp)
Sprinklers: 54 (4050 metal fragments)
Water pumps: 9 (1800 wood, 2250 metal fragments, 9 gears)
Fluid switch and pump: 9 (1350 metal fragments)
Ceiling lights: 27 (1350 metal fragments)

You can find these items at Outpost and Bandit camp, player shops and drops in barrels and loot boxes along roads and monuments, it's worth unlocking these in the Tier 1 workbench with scrap so you can craft more as needed. I try to build one level at a time, a team can get this build done really quick and is less fuss for a solo player.

Ceiling light power circuit:
Switch: 1
Solar panels: 4
Root combiners: 3
Large Battery: 1 (Tier 2 workbench)

Water pump power circuits
2 options, one is neat and you can't go wrong, the other option is efficient but slightly complex. I've included the circuit diagrams down further in the guide.
Neat Circuit one for each level:
Switch: 1 (100 metal fragments)
Solar panels: 4 (20 high quality metal, 4 tech trash)
Root combiners: 3 (225 metal fragments)
Large Battery: 1 (Tier 2 workbench) (10 high quality metal, 2 tech trash)

Efficient Circuit for 3 levels:
Splitters: 6 (600 metal fragments)
Switch: 2 (200 metal fragments)
Solar panels: 8 (40 high quality metal, 8 tech trash)
Root combiners: 6 (450 metal fragments)
Large Battery: 2 (Tier 2 workbench) (20 high quality metal, 4 tech trash)

Farm foundation build:

This build uses wood foundations of 6x8 (2,400 wood) and is stable enough to not need supporting frames amongst your planters. Each level is 1.5 walls (1 full plain wall and half wall on top ) high (2785 wood for 1st level with door, 2800). With this build you can do 3 levels of growing.

Placement of Lights:

I place 1 light for every 4 planters. Place the light in the center where 4 floors join. Crouch below and look up. I find twig makes the center easier to see, others find stone easier to line up things, but it's worth upgrading when you are done from twig...always!
If you place the light and it swings it will swing every time you return to this farm and it renders in. Pick it up again, move to a different spot and look again to place it until it doesn't swing or come back to it after placing others. It's worth noting that i place lights after i've put down my planters, it makes it easier to reach the wiring at 1.5 wall height.

It's worth noting that with this setup all 4 planters will have 100% light. This setup may look dark at night, i prefer the light off glowing sources that don't add to extra power and wiring. I run fireplaces (1 per level is enough), hobo barrels (2 per level is enough) or lgf lamps (2) for extra light so i can see my boxes and things.

Placement of Sprinklers:

Place 2 sprinklers in the middle of 4, side by side on the floor after putting down planters. Before planters snapped to the floor we would place low wall to make perfect gaps and line up the planters, you can still do this but the snapping qol update is good enough. Just make sure when placed the gap is enough to get in a sprinkler.
The trick to getting the sprinkler in is to walk in, crouch and place the sprinkler without using the mouse to change the view. If you move the mouse it will rotate the sprinkler and the connections will likely be hard to get to (use keyboard to move side to side.) If you get into a spot and move the mouse, de-select the sprinkler in tool bar and re-select it again before placing.
To connect the sprinklers using your hose tool, crouch down low view from the side "water in" connect, then get up and walk to the other side to view the passthrough and repeat as needed.
It's every every 4 planters in the middle, which will be under the light you've put up.
Sprinklers connect 6 max.
The first or last sprinkler (depending on your view) will connect to a fluid switch and pump.
The fluid switch and pump will connect to a water pump.

Electrical
Lights:
I like to run all 27 lights (3 level build) on 1 switch and one circuit. This circuit is a set of 4 solars, 3 root combiners, 1 large battery and 1 switch. Simple and done. I run 4 solars to a large battery as you want more going into the large battery than needed, solar charges through the day. Early in wipe or your build this can get going with less solar and increase as you add in more lights.

Placing solar panels:
 Each solar does a max of 50 currently as they are buffed on RustEZ servers. Windmills are annoying as they need to be up high, ugly (rainbow windmills please!) and your neighbours will have some opinions about them.
Watering will be your biggest electrical cost in this build. Each Water pump takes 12, and we have 3 pumps to a level.
To be neat and simple (for water) you can do 4 solars, 3 root combiners, 1 large battery, 1 switch, 1 splitter for each level (each level has a circuit. Credit- BioHazardAust. Thank you so mulch.) Or to be running on less solars you can run 8 solars, 2 large batteries, 6 splitters, 6 root combiners, 2 switches this will cover all 3 levels but will divide all the pumps between the 2 circuits and how you do splitters matters.)

To be running a farm on wipe day that is the most optimised and less fuss; a test generator can be purchased from the RustEZ store that outputs 600max currently with 3 outputs. Easy enough to run all lights and water pumps off these going to switches and then to lights and pumps (will need branches or splitters) as needed- no running the roads, crafting those solars or trying to work out the sun.

To recap in pictures for water and electricity.
1 Circuit per level, neat setup. 36 planters (light circuit not pictured).

The efficient circuits
(Please imagine all the sprinklers and fluid switch and pumps not pictured.) This does all 3 levels, pumps for these are split across 2 circuits.
108 planters. (light circuit not pictured)

Put together the inside should look something like this:

 

The roof with a circuit per level plus lights.

 

Pumps neatly outside.

Heaters:
I find heaters very optional, if i was to have my farm in the snow i would likely have to use them. If you aren't running your plants with fertiliser and water at 100 then it's ok to not put in heaters. You save materials, energy and wiring by not putting them in. If the temperature % is lower than the non fertiliser ground 67% it's worth putting them in.
But if i was to put them in;
Space them 1 for every 2 planters. Add them to the walls and add in window or door frame or half wall to place heaters in the amongst planters in  the middle of the farm. Check the temperatures of your 2nd level as you may not need to any here as heaters work in a shape of a sphere (so people have said.) Heat in the past has gone up to the next level, so heaters on level 1 and 3. Depending on where you are and likely what season (or just night) it is in game you may not need heaters. In the desert, timed heaters should be set up so they come on at night is good to have.

A work in progress, thanks for reading.

[TiffDust]

Troubleshooting

If your planters aren't filling with water:

Check the battery has charge and solars are the right way. (listen to the water pumps they will sound like they have power and then they don't)
Check the water connections and then pump is switch is on (try the off/on to fix.)
Check the water pump is powered, listen to the pump if it sounds like they are working and then they aren't you have a power issue.
They may have bugged up, use a salvage hammer to hammer the planters up and put them back down again.
Disconnecting either side of the water pump and switch  usually fixes the issue.
 

If planters were filling with water or are filling some but not others:

Turn switch and pump or switch off and on again.
They may have bugged up, use a salvage hammer to hammer them up and put them back down again.
 

Some planters were dry during a grow and others weren't:

I've found it's usually the planters/sprinkler sets that are the furthest away from the pump. It could be that these are the planters are slowest at getting enough water, more likely to be used often (started with lower water) or are more prone to bugging up. I prefer to start farming with max water and run water as they grow, then turn off when not in use.

I used 1 light for 4 planters but it was too dark:

Youtuber Tamura77 suggests  2 lights, 2 sprinklers for 6 planters (think of 3 lots of 2.) You might find this setup brighter but still lower in materials/wiring. Alternatively there is some output left in the light system of 1 light to 4 planters to add in some extra near your boxes or walking space.

Which clones are best to go with?
3g3y is a good clone for beginners as it's faster to grow (uses less water) and more forgiving if you forget and harvest late. It makes doing multiple harvests in a row without a timed sprinkler setup easier (if you get it on ripe.)
2g4y is good, many farmers sell these and they're easy to get if you don't want to make your own. It takes less work but a bit longer to grow (when cloning gives 4.)