Need a fertilizer solution...

[Quayludious]

Hi,

So the server I am playing on is running a slightly stripped down version of Monster. I'm currently running 4 forestry multifarms for trees, and a steves cart tree farm as well to power 5 fermenters and 13 refineries to make biofuel. I have 5 of my 12 steam boilers running and life is good. Except that about every 2 days or so I run out of Apatite or sand and my fertilizer production grinds to a halt. Sand is easy enough to get, apatite while it isn't hard to get is getting harder to find.

I started looking into moisteners. I don't have any way to automate a skeleton farm when I'm not present so my bonemeal supply is limited. I'm thinking that if I make a big enough wheat farm I could get by without using bonemeal to speed the growth up but has anyone played with these? How many do you think I would need to make up mulch to cover the several thousand I am going thru in fertilizer?

Any other ideas would be appreciated. thanks!

 

[GoldenGamerUK]

This will solve your problem

http://feed-the-beast.wikia.com/wiki/Fertilizer_(Forestry)

 

[Quayludious]

Yeah... I can mine apatite or I can mine saltpeter. I got that. I'm looking to automate making mulch which also serves as fertilizer on fermenters. I'm kinda boned on the multifarms because they wont accept IC2 fertilizer nor mulch.

 

[GoldenGamerUK]

Ok then try a mfr wheat farm with industrial fertilizer, then use a planter to replant the seeds, then have the wheat pump into a moistener in a dark room, with cobble being exported into the the moistener, have the mulch get exported, I'm just getting started on a setup, will post when done.

 

[Quayludious]

no MFR

I think I'll just start with a 30x30 steves cart wheat farm and see what the numbers are like. if I can get anything decent for output from that I'll just get rid of the multifarms.

 

[GoldenGamerUK]

Ok, you might get a decent output, just see how it goes!

 

[malicious_bloke]

I have the opposite problem on my current single player world. I'm running one multifarm and i'm utterly dedicated to destroying the landscape with quarries.

At present I have 37000 saltpeter and 12000 apatite in storage.

It's getting a bit silly

 

[Quayludious]

I wish I had that problem, I've been getting very little apatite from quarries. Like maybe 8-10 stacks per quarry of the last few that I have made. I've never even seen saltpeter.

 

[madnewmy]

Try mfr laser with focus (don't remember which one gets apatite, if any)

Bee's or magic crops

RoC's borer on a high ish level where you can apatite

Cursed earth mob farm and an extra wither skellie or skellie auto spawner

Try another way to farm trees...

 

[malicious_bloke]

I wish I had that problem, I've been getting very little apatite from quarries. Like maybe 8-10 stacks per quarry of the last few that I have made. I've never even seen saltpeter.

Are you playing without railcraft then?

Saltpeter used to be something you'd come across in deserts but in the 1.6.4 packs it's bloody EVERYWHERE.

 

[Bibble]

Apatite was specifically intended to to be finite (excepting the far end of the "we do everything" mods like extra bees), with the intention being that you can make a farm automated and run a long time, but eventually, you will need to do maintenance.

As to the compost issue, I remember at one point I was using a Cart tree farm, taking the wood away (for a number of things, including boilers, as I recall), squeezing the apples, and using the juice and mulch it provided to supply two fermenters (one water, one juice), and then going into a selection of stills. All this (including powered furnace for charcoal and large steam boiler to power the lot) fitted inside a single chunk quite easily. It would be possible to scale that up to fit your needs.

What we don't know is what automation mods you have running, as some of your responses conflict with the versions of the packs we know (no MFR or Railcraft spawning), for example. A few more details might help us to help you.

 

[TheAwesomater]

Hi,

So the server I am playing on is running a slightly stripped down version of Monster. I'm currently running 4 forestry multifarms for trees, and a steves cart tree farm as well to power 5 fermenters and 13 refineries to make biofuel. I have 5 of my 12 steam boilers running and life is good. Except that about every 2 days or so I run out of Apatite or sand and my fertilizer production grinds to a halt. Sand is easy enough to get, apatite while it isn't hard to get is getting harder to find.

I started looking into moisteners. I don't have any way to automate a skeleton farm when I'm not present so my bonemeal supply is limited. I'm thinking that if I make a big enough wheat farm I could get by without using bonemeal to speed the growth up but has anyone played with these? How many do you think I would need to make up mulch to cover the several thousand I am going thru in fertilizer?

Any other ideas would be appreciated. thanks!

I would try and get a fruit tree farm so that you can squeeze fruit for fruit juice to increase biomass and get mulch if you haven't done that already. Also, again if you haven't done it already, you could try breeding trees to get more yield in saplings/wood per fertilizer.

If you don't want to use more fertilizer then I would just make more SC tree farms.

Finally, if you are using refineries like it says in the post for your biofuel I would switch to stills because they are more efficient.

 

[Quayludious]

We do have railcraft, I guess I've just never seen saltpeter. I am already producing more biomass/biofuel than I am consuming.

I switched from stills to refineries because I found while the stills may be more efficient, they were damn slow. I have an excess 10m tank for biomass, I spent a good few days coming up with high saplings/high sappiness/high yield trees so that part is solid. I haven't been using the apples just water because I already have too much.

I will try adding a few squeezers into the mix, its like a 40% chance of mulch? that and the moistener might get me by. I'm stuck at work for the next 5-6hrs so I can't try anything out.

I did pull a bonehead play and just realize why I might not be seeing a lot of apapite... all of my quarries have been on mystcraft designed ocean worlds... everything is < y:40 and the wiki says it only spawns at 50>

 

[Celestialphoenix]

MFR laser drill can target anything in the ore block dictionary.
Railcraft saltpetre only spawns in certain biomes.

If you don't mind adding stuff.

Ex-nihlo (take a look at Agrarian Skies)- has some fairly neat mechanics for generating apatite.
Gregtech's centrifuge can make saltpetre from soul and, along with some very epic byproduct...​