OSRS Farming Guide

Table of Contents

• Useful Quests
• Profitable Training Methods
• Quick Training Methods

Useful Quests

• Enlightened Journey: 3,000 EXP
• Fairy Tale 1: 3,500 EXP
• RFD Goblin Generals: 1,000 EXP
• Forgettable Tale of a Druken Dwarf: 5,000 EXP
• Garden of Tranquility: 5,000 EXP
• Rum Deal: 7,000 EXP
• Grim Tales: 4,000 EXP
• My Arm’s Big Adventure: 5,000 EXP
• Song of the Elves: 20,000 EXP

Useful Items

Rake

Every patch in the game needs to be raked before planting a seed, as annoying as it seems. You at least get 4 experience per weeding, making it useful for low-level training.

Seed Dibbler

Herb and allotment seeds cannot be planted without a dibbler.

Compost

For most patches, the type of compost you use will affect the yield you get (especially for herbs). Regular compost is usable at a low level, but you will want to use Super Compost or Ultra Compost for high-level training.

Watering Can

Alottment patches won’t grow successfully without being watered, so that’s where the watering can come in. You can hold up to 8 uses per can and it may be filled up from most water sources.

Magic Secateurs

When holding these, you will be able to pick more herbs than normal, so it’s a must-have for profitable herb farming. This is a quest reward from Fairytale I.

Spade

For digging up dead crops, tree stumps or allotment patches, this will come in handy.

Plant Pot

If you plan on making your own saplings from seed, you will need to use plant pots to make them yourself. Ironmen will especially have to go this route without access to the Grand Exchange to buy saplings.

Farmer’s Outfit

This is a clothing set obtained from the Tithe Farming mini-game, so you will have some farming progression by the time you have this. The full set give an additional 2.5% experience.

Amulet of Nature

This amulet may be bound to a patch so you can monitor it from a distance. If it is diseased, this gives you an opportunity to cure the patch. This item isn’t very popular since only 1 at a time may be used, but it still has its niche uses.

Profitable Training Methods

Potatoes(1 - 5/9)

Potato seeds are always rock bottom at one coin each, so there is always a reasonable profit margin when farming these. Simply use regular compost, seed and water them in every allotment patch available to you, and you should get your preliminary levels rather quickly.

If you wish to pay the gardener to look after your crops, it’s totally worth it at only 2 buckets of compost per patch. Compost can be bought cheaply at nearby farming shops, so it’s not much of an investment.

To make your runs even more efficient, be sure to take a few sacks with you. You can fill them up with one click and they’re worth more to players in sacks anyway.

Onions (5 - 7/9)

Onions have marginal experience gain over potatoes, but nearly double the profit potential per patch. You may go ahead and do these for a few levels if you want to move on from potatoes and you will also be able to fill them up in sacks. Keep in mind that gardeners ask for sacks of potatoes to watch over your onion, so it’s not worth going that route.

Cabbages (7 – 9)

While cabbages are a bit of a meme in Runescape as being useless, it still has a high enough price to be profitable to grow. It also gives a little more experience than potatoes or onions, which a growing demand as collectors are always buying in bulk.

Low Level Herbs (9 – 19)

Herbs are the cornerstone of farming for most players, but you will have to start out with Guams, Marrentills, and Tarromins. These herbs aren’t the least bit profitable, but you should get quick levels when added to your farming rotation.

Harralander (26 – 38)

Harralanders start to get into the area where farming herbs is profitable. The seeds are dirt cheap and there is usually around a 600 gold profit margin for every herb. Be sure to use your Magic Secateurs so that you can squeeze out a few extra herbs per patch.

The reason why Harralanders are popular compared to other low-level herbs is it’s used to make Harralander tar. This is considered to be the best AFK method of training herblore in the game.

Toadflax (38 - 45/50)

Toadflax is a much more valuable her than Harralanders, and with all things considered, it has the most profit potential compared with other herb seeds. If you have all the patches unlocked, you can make over 100,000 gold for every farming rotation. This can be done several times a day, with an effective gold per hour of 1 million gold.

The reason why Toadflax always has such high demand is its use in making Saradomin Brews and the fact that regular monsters don’t drop them. Some players choose to do this herb all the way to level 99 because of that reason.

Irit (44 – 50)

While Irits are only slightly more profitable than Harralander, it gives significantly more experience than Toadflax. These seeds are very cheap on the Grand Exchange, so it’s at least an economical way to train farming. For Ironmen, it is also a highly desired herb to grow since the secondaries are easy to obtain for herblore training.

Avantoe (50 – 56)

Avantoe offers more experience than Irits so it’s natural to grow them as you go along with leveling progression. The profit potential is also a bit higher due to these being common in herblore training. These are a good option to go for before Kwuarm seeds.

Kwuarm (56 - 67/99)

Kwuarm is the second most profitable herb to grow, largely due to it being used for Super Strength and Super Combat potions. The experience per hour is more than double that of Toadflax with the profit only being slightly less, so this is a common option to go with until level 99.

Cadantine (67 – 99)

Cadantine is the only high-level herb with a decent profit margin, although the gold per hour is very similar to growing Irit leaves. Since the experience is a huge boost over Kwuarm, you should consider this for a good gold to experience ratio.

Farming Guild Contracts (45 – 99)

Whether you’re in it for experience or money, adding Farming Guild contracts to your daily routine will guarantee both. It is similar to slayer tasks in the sense that random assignments for crops are given and the player receives a seed pack as a reward. If anything, it’s good for breaking the monotony as you may grow items you wouldn’t have normally grown before.

The seed packs are random but usually end in a decent profit. You even get a chance of getting magic or redwood seeds, additions hundreds of thousands in gold to your potential daily profit. For ironmen, it would be useful to hoard these seeds as they may also be assigned in contracts themselves.

Having access to the farming guild also gives you the ability to grow the Hespori boss, which combines farming and combat. You plant the seed in the western area of the guild and the fight grants 12,600 and a random drop. This can be done once a day and requires 65 farming.

Quick Training Methods

Sulphurous Fertiliser (1 - 9/15)

It may be an unusual suggestion, but if you plan on gaining Hosidius favor anyway, this is a good way to kick of farming training. Sulphurious fertilizer is made by combining saltpeter with regular compost, both of which are buyable items from the Grand Exchange.

Every game tick of combining the two ingredients gives 2 experience, which is faster than raking weeded patches. While it doesn’t seem like an amazing experience, you can go through several levels just by standing at the bank doing this.

For Ironmen, you can stock up on compost buckets from any farming store near a bank. As for saltpeter, you will have to mine it from the mineral deposit near the Woodcutting Guild. Keep that in mind when considering this as a training method.

Oak Trees (Acorns) (15 - 27/30)

Oak trees are the first growable trees in the game, and luckily its seeds are usually very cheap. To create an oak sapling, you will have to fill a plant pot with soil, use the seed with it, water it and wait for it to sprout. Otherwise, pre-made saplings may be bought on the Grand Exchange for a slightly higher price.

To guarantee it’s growth, you can pay the nearby gardener a full basket of tomatoes to watch over it. This same gardener will dig up your old tree for 500 coins if you wish to save a few extra seconds on your tree trunk.

Apple trees (27 – 33)

This is the first tier of fruit trees to add to your daily farming rotation, and it adds a significant amount with 1,272 EXP each. The seed only costs 6 gold, but you need 9 sweet corn to have it watched over by the gardener. It yields cooking apples, which ironmen may find useful to make apple pies for cooking experience.

Willow Trees (30 – 45)

Willow trees are the next tier after oaks and give 1,456 experience each. With the Enlightened Journey quest, you will gain access to an additional patch, along with a complimentary tree to use it with. You should grow these in conjunction with apple or banana trees for quick experience.

It should be noted that the branches cut from willow trees can make your investment back when growing these. Don’t forget to trim it before cutting it down and replanting.

Hardwood Trees

If you don’t mind going out of your way to Fossil Island, hardwood trees offer a significant boost to your weekly farming experience. Don’t worry, as they have their own separate patches so it won’t impede on your fruit or regular tree runs.

Teak trees require Level 35 to grow and give 7,290 experience. You can give 15 limpwurt roots to the nearby squirrels to watch over it for you. It takes 2 days and 17 hours to fully grow, so it won’t be a daily thing.

Mahogany trees take slightly longer at 3 days and 13 hours with 15,720 experience each. It only takes 25 Yanillian hops for a gardener to watch it, somewhat making up for the steep cost of Mahogony seeds. Take note that this is the closes Mahagony tree to the bank, so gather logs before you cut it down and replant it.

Banana Trees (33 – 39)

The next tree you will plan is the Banana Tree. You farm these trees in the normal tree farming locations and they don't require any special considerations. 

Curry (42-51)

The next tree you will plan is the Curry Tree. You farm these trees in the normal tree farming locations and they don't require any special considerations.

Maple Trees (45 – 60)

Maple tree seeds are where it starts to get expensive at 30,000 gold each and 3,400 experience for a successful yield. You will also need to pay the farmer a full basket of oranges to watch over it, which is relatively cheap.

Pineapple (51-57)

Pineapples are where you start getting significant amounts of experience for your fruit tree patches at 4,607 each. Just pant the seeds along with 10 watermelons for the farmer, you will have a daily boost to your experience. The pineapples that they yield are not very lucrative to sell, but you can use them later on for Papaya trees.

Papaya (57-68/99)

Papayas are a relatively low-cost way to train farming, especially considering that their fruit can garner a slight profit. The pineapples used to pay the farmer can be bought at extremely low prices from charter ships, so there’s not much of an investment. If you are pinching pennies, this may be used in your rotation all the way to level 99.

Yew Trees (60 – 75)

Yews are the second-best way to utilize a regular tree spot, although it has quite a high cost to experience ratio. You will gain 7069 experience and it will cost 10 cactus spine to have it watched over. Its roots are also a source of crossbow string, so it may be useful for ironmen in that regard.

Palm Trees (68-81)

Growing a palm tree is one of the few means of acquiring coconuts in the game, and it’s quite decent for passive experience. The seeds are quite expensive (usually around Yew prices) but it’s the second-best way to utilize a fruit tree patch. Simply pay the gardener with 15 papayas and you are guaranteed 10,150 experience at the end of it.

It should be noted that the coconuts you pick will give you a slight return as they are frequently used for farm payments. It is also used to make super weapon poison for those training herblore.

Magic Trees (75-99)

Magic seeds are quite expensive and have the highest cost to experience ratio in the game. Having said that, you may grow one every 8 hours with an experience drop of 13768. These seeds are dropped by bosses, high-level monsters and sometimes found in bird nests.

You may pay the gardener 25 coconuts to watch over the tree, significantly adding to the growing cost. If you wish to dig it up yourself, you will get some magic roots. These roots can be spun into magic string, which is used to make an amulet of nature.

Tithe Farm (74 - 99)

Tithe Farm is a minigame in Zeah and is the only active way to train farming. While it’s unlocked at level 34, it isn’t an efficient method until level 74. You will need 100% in Hosidius favor, which is easily done with the Sulphurous Fertiliser mentioned earlier. Experience rates are easily 100,000 or more with your full attention.

The best way to go is to grow up to 20 plants at a time and water them in a zig-zag pattern down the row. Since you will be running around wildly, you will need an inventory full of stamina potions if you wish to camp Tithe Farm for a significant amount of time.

The rewards from Tithe Farm are just as rewarding as its experience rates. You will gain the full farmer set, as well as grape seeds to plant grape vines for extra experience towards your daily farming runs.

I would advise against using Gricoller's fertilizer as it does more harm than good. Less experience is gained overall since you will maintain fewer plants and will likely have most of your crops die. It is useful if you don’t mind sacrificing experience for a more relaxing growing pattern.

Dragonfruit Trees (81-99)

Dragonfruit is the most expensive fruit tree to grow and is the new tier of tree introduced with the Farming Guild update. A successful growth gives 17335 experience, which is significantly more than palm or papaya trees. 15 coconuts are used as payment to the gardener to assure it won’t die.

While the fruit isn’t used for farming payments, it does have a few niche uses introduced to the game. If baked into a pie, it boosts the players’ fletching level by 4, which is the highest in the game. It’s also an ingredient for bottled dragon breath, which charges Dragonfire shields.