Large Crop Plot

A fenced plot for every kind of seed

Farming in ARK: Survival Evolved and ARK: Survival Ascended moves up a step with the Large Crop Plot, which the ARK Wiki counts as the third plot a survivor can craft. In the game's words it is "A large garden plot, with a fence to keep out vermin." Every type of seed can be planted in it, and it holds 600 water, 200 more than the Medium Crop Plot. Any fairly flat patch of ground will do for placing it.

Seeds that call for the large plot

Only three seeds need this plot: Plant Species X Seed, Plant Species Y Seed and Plant Species Z Seed. All other plants, berries included, grow fine in a Small or Medium Crop Plot, and the wiki notes that berry seeds gain nothing from a Large Crop Plot compared with a Small Crop Plot.

Planting and harvesting

A crop needs a seed, water and fertilizer:

• Water: most often a water source linked to the plot through a Stone Tap or a Metal Tap. Rain and a Waterskin work too, though less reliably.
• Fertilizer: Fertilizer from a Compost Bin, a Dung Beetle or a Toilet lasts longest but takes a while to produce; plain Feces may be the easier start.
• Seed: once the plot is watered and fertilized, put the seed in its inventory and it is planted a few seconds later.

Over several day cycles the plant passes through its growth stages. From the Fruitling stage onward it can be harvested continuously, holding up to 300 of its berry type, or 150 for a non-berry plant. To change plants, hold 'E' to open the radial menu and choose 'destroy plant'. A plot that stays watered and fertilized never needs reseeding, and each yield has a small chance of producing a new seed for another plot. Crops left inside rot very slowly, but at the normal rate once the fertilizer runs out.

Engram, recipe and toughness

The engram unlocks at level 36 for 15 engram points, with the Medium Crop Plot as its prerequisite in our records. The plot is crafted in the survivor's inventory; one craft takes 5 seconds and gives 21.4 XP, using 100 Stone, 80 Wood (or Fungal Wood), 60 Fiber and 40 Thatch. It weighs 4 and stacks to 100, so a full stack weighs 400. Our records count 72 loot crates that can contain it, for example Aberration Blue, Purple and Red, and list it on 14 maps. As a wooden structure it takes no damage from bare hands, stone weapons and ranged attacks that are not explosive, and the wiki names aggressive creatures that cannot hurt it, such as the Raptor, Sabertooth, Direwolf, Kaprosuchus and Titanoboa.