Infitech2 - Hops - [+ crying emoji]

[headsh0t_harry]

Hey everyone, been trying really hard to fathom how to grow Hops.

Running Infitech 2, and research so far suggests cross breeding Nether Wart with Wheat.

So, I built a 3x3 square of dirt, with a water block in the centre.
Put Nether Wart north and south of the square and sowed Wheat seeds east and west of the square.
I then put more crops in the corners (clicked twice so they cross each other)... and waited..... a long time.

So far the only thing I've cultivated are enough weeds to cover the entire world with.

I've build the garden in a place that gets sun, light levels are minimum of 10 everywhere (helped by torches - does this make a difference?)

[attached a screenshot of the 3x3 square]

Any advice from you geniuses?

Thanks,

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

The very outdated IC2 wiki also suggests using Stickreed instead of wheat as an alternate partner to Nether Wart; I don't know if that's in the game, but it might be worth a try if so?

 

[headsh0t_harry]

Thanks - Can't find Stickreed, but maybe might be able to crossbreed that - might have more luck given how this has gone so far!!
I mainly wondered if my process was flawed or just plain wrong?

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

Thanks - Can't find Stickreed, but maybe might be able to crossbreed that - might have more luck given how this has gone so far!!
I mainly wondered if my process was flawed or just plain wrong?

From everything I've read, it doesn't look like there's anything wrong with your process! There is an element of randomness to it, and hops are apparently one of the most frustrating things to breed, so it may just be bad luck!

 

[Pyure]

Thanks - Can't find Stickreed, but maybe might be able to crossbreed that - might have more luck given how this has gone so far!!
I mainly wondered if my process was flawed or just plain wrong?

Gamer's right. You have the right general idea. Couple of things to be aware of:
1) In general, plants of a tier will most likely mutate to plants of a nearby or lower tier. So if Hops are, say, tier 5 (no idea), then try to use other plants around that tier.
2) I've mutated lots of hops. So fwiw I can confirm they do happen
3) If weeds are a problem, here's some tips
* Keep your mutation work in groups of 4 so that one group cannot "infect" another group with weeds (lots of eggs, lots of baskets as it were)
* You can use weed-ex to drastically reduce (remove?) the possibility of a weed occurring
* The CropMatron can deploy weed-ex automatically for you if you're so inclined (As well as water and fertilizer)
* Check your crops more frequently

Weed-ex has LOTS of traditional posts warning you about degrading your crops etc etc. There's also a lot of debunking of this, and I've never had any problem with using it myself. YMMV.

 

[SolManX]

Stickreed looks very much like normal reed (see here for growth stages).

Looks like you're doing everything okay in your picture, but in my limited experience with ic2 & gregtech crops, I found it easier to go big scale (4 9x9's) and then nurse the plants methodically. If you're not in the mood to stand around though, small scale is best (for the reason pyure gave).

There's some really frustrating aspects (you've found one: weeds) but also the fact that harvesting plants can drop resources or seeds or, a lot of the time, nothing at all, and as gamerwithnoGame and pyure say, it's very random as to what cross-breeds you get.

Get a 'weeding-trowel' as soon as you can and, depending on which age you're in of course, I found a gregtech scanner to be much easier to use than the ic2 handheld battery version. I always thought it was a bit odd that the agriculture section was in the bronze age of the (hqm) book - maybe the LV age would have made more sense.

 

[Pyure]

Get a 'weeding-trowel' as soon as you can and, depending on which age you're in of course, I found a gregtech scanner to be much easier to use than the ic2 handheld battery version. I always thought it was a bit odd that the agriculture section was in the bronze age of the (hqm) book - maybe the LV age would have made more sense.

I'm a terrible person: these are also extremely good tips that I shouldn't have forgotten about.