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"Rust" Crossbreeding Guide
Crossbreeding in "Rust"
Growing plants in Rust is a cornerstone for many people, especially groups that have higher resource demands and can afford to pay upkeep on more bases. It might be for different types of food, cloth from hemp, or teas from berries. In any scenario, even casual farmers need to learn about crossbreeding. Crossbreeding the right genes into your plants will dramatically improve the efficiency and output of your grow operations and are nearly essential to the process. However, crossbreeding is confusing at first glance, and intimidating to start doing. This guide will cover everything you need to know so you can create your own "God clones" and improve your farming output.
Understanding Plant Genes
In Rust, plants have 6 gene slots, each of which can be occupied by 1 of 5 different genes. The order of the slots and where the genes don't matter apart from how they are crossbred. There are 2 red genes and 3 green ones.
Green Genes
- Y for yield. Yield increases the amount of product produced by the plant.
- G for growth. Growth increases the speed at which a plant grows.
- H for hardiness. Hardiness improves a plant's durability to harsh conditions such as temperature.
Red Genes
- W for water. Water increases how much water a plant requires to grow.
- X for blank. X does not negatively impact the plant, simply wastes a slot.
Generally speaking, the most desirable genes are Y and G and people prefer plants that have YYYYGG, YYYGGG, or GGGGYY genes. More details on this will be covered below.
Understanding Plant Phases
When growing, a plant will go through multiple phases. These phases are:
- Seed
- Seedling
- Sapling
- Crossbreeding
- Mature
- Fruiting
- Ripe
- Dying (The plant will no longer give produce at this point, so harvest during ripe!)
The different stages last for varying amounts of time, but they key stage to note here is crossbreeding. This is the only time when a plant will engage in the crossbreeding process.
How Crossbreeding Works
The instant a plant enters the crossbreeding stage, its new genes are calculated. This genes are a calculation made by comparing its current genes to the genes of all nearby plants of the exact same type (exact -- different color berries won't crossbreed with eachother.) This occurs regardless of where the touching plants are in their lifecycle, they do not need to be in crossbreeding. A nearby plant is a touching plant within the same planter, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Plants do not crossbreed across planters. This means a plant in the center spot of a planter crossbreeds will all other plants in the planter, but one in the corner will only crossbreed with the 3 touching spots. Understanding this is critical to generating samples to crossbreed with and ultimately executing the crossbreeding to get good genes.
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Ranking the Bosses of "Metal Gear Solid 4" Crossbreeding is calculated on a per slot basis, by comparing the existing slot to the same slot of all nearby plants. The winning gene is determined by the gene type that weights higher than all others. For example, if you have an X gene in the first slot, a Y gene in a nearby plant, and another Y gene in another nearby plant. The Y gene will overpower the X gene and crossbreeding will yield a Y. However, it's important to note that red genes weight higher than green. Reds always beat a green, it takes 2 greens to overpower a red. Additionally, ties in weighting come down to chance. A Y gene crossbreeding with a single G gene will have a 50% chance to be Y, and a 50% chance to be G.
This is fairly dense, and challenging to imagine putting together 6 slots of perfect genes by crossbreeding a handful. But we'll get to how to pull that off later. For now, know that you should clone and keep any plants you see with favorable genes. I like to keep anything with 4 of my preferred genes or better, such as YYYGXX or YYXXGG.
Efficient Cloning Setups
To crossbreed your way into a perfect "God clone" you'll need a collection of good clones to work with. This can take a while as you may need to accumulate 10-20 good clones to have the right arrangement of genes to generate a perfect clone.
Now there is something a little tricky here. To generate clones you may be tempted to fill your entire 9 slot planter with seeds of the plant you want and pluck out anything that is good. However, because red genes have more weight than green genes, a planter full of a single type of seed tends to skew negatively as going through crossbreeding will often create more red genes. You can clone things prior to crossbreeding, and let the rest of the batch get more red after you've gotten the clones you want. However, I personally prefer a different method that is more ideal for people who want to create multiple "God clones." I arrange my planters such that plants are not within crossbreeding range of each other, and fill slots with other types of plants. This way I can fill my planter to keep it efficient, but I prevent any crossbreeding from possibly ruining good genes. The visual below will help show how to arrange it so every slot is used but none will crossbreed.
Cloning Arrangement
Creating a "God Clone"
After you've collected a handful of good clones, you need to start checking for whether or not you can make a "God clone." You can do this manually by checking the slots you have to work with, and potentially arranging your clones in a box in the pattern you would crossbreed them with. However, it's a fairly challenging task. It's much easier to simply use this website to do the math for you. Input all your clone genes, and it will output the best clone you can create within a single crossbreeding session. It will also begin to show you which slots you cannot create good genes with so you can keep an eye out for better clones. For example, maybe you can make YYYYGX so you want to find a clone with a G in the last slot. Furthermore, the tool will only show what you can create within a single step, but sometimes you are 2 steps away from a perfect clone. For this reason I like to put a a handful of the best clones I can create back into that tool and see if they can be used to make the final "God clone."
The Perfect Clone
Y and G genes are the most important generally unless you have some specific circ*mstances where you need H. But the count of Y and G that is ideal can vary a bit. Generally people prefer YYYYGG, YYYGGG, or YYGGGG as they output the highest quantity per time. Genes have diminishing returns, so your 6th G gene has a lower impact than your first. As such, the above 3 options are all fairly optimal with YYYGGG delivering the highest output per hour. I personally prefer YYYYGG as the 4th Y makes cloning yield 4 clones instead of 3. This means I have to harvest clones less frequently. I also prefer to spend less time fiddling with my farm and have more produce when I do. Going to YYYYYY would push this further, but at a pretty significant cost in output per time, so YYYYGG is the sweet spot for me personally.
The Final Crossbreed
When you have every clone you need, it's on to the final step. Simply use the clones as specified by the tool. It will specify if you need to use a specific clone as the central piece to crossbreed with, or if any planted seed will work. In either scenario, plant the plant you intend to create the "God clone" from in the center spot of a planter. Wait until it's gotten partway through the sapling stage (so pretty close to crossbreeding) and then plant all the crossbreeding plants around it. It's safest to wait until about halfway through sapling, but really the idea is to avoid having a faster plant reach crossbreeding before your main plant and accidentally ruin your batch. To minimize the risk of this happening, plant your crossbreeding clones late, or use a clone with many G genes in the center so it grows faster than the others. Upon crossbreeding, it should run the calculations and spit out your perfect plant! Clone it and watch your output multiply!
Making the Perfect Clone
Y and G Impact on Berry Growth
Final Thoughts
A perfect clone can more than double your farm's output, ensure all plants are done at the same time, and can even be sold to other players for sulfur given how valuable they are! If you intend to stay on a server for a week or more and plan to do some farming in that time, it's absolutely worth it, if not essential, to create some "God clones." With a little practice it's not too difficult to pull off either.
FAQs
Crossbreeding is calculated on a per slot basis, by comparing the existing slot to the same slot of all nearby plants. The winning gene is determined by the gene type that weights higher than all others.
What are good genetics rust? ›
The positive genes which are colored green and the negative genes which are colored. Red whether a
What does H mean in Rust genetics? ›
H = Increased Hardiness
Increased Hardiness is how hard the plant is, but that doesn't matter to you, the more useful information you would want is that the harder the plant is the more you get once eating it, this meaning health and hunger.
How do you use genetics in Rust? ›
You'll want to gather multiple seeds and continue to plant and destroy them until you have a desired
Can you cross breed two different plants? ›
A hybrid plant is the result of cross pollinating two different plant varieties and growing the seed the mix produces. The plant that grows from that seed combination is called a hybrid. Commercial cross planting is done to get some type of valued attribute of each initial variety into the offspring.
How do you cross breed berries? ›
Cross-pollinate plants manually by collecting the pollen from the anthers of one plant's flowers onto a paintbrush and then rubbing it onto the stamens of the other plant. Wait until berries are fully ripened and pick them. Harvest the seeds from inside the berries.
How do you clone God in Rust? ›
Cross Breeding Guide (updated 2021) | Rust - YouTube
Can you clone potatos rust? ›
RUST Potato Clones are a plantable item, acquired through the conventional method by Taking a Clone once a planted Potato Seed or prior potato clone reaches the Fruiting Stage of growth.
How do you clone berries in Rust? ›
A blue berry clone is created by taking a clipping of a blue berry plant. To create a clipping, hold down the E key while mousing over the berry plant, and select the cutting option. Doing this will produce several clone plants of the berry bush.
What is gene pyramiding? ›
Gene pyramiding refers to the process of stacking multiple genes into a single genotype to combine desirable traits through recombinant DNA technology or conventional breeding. This approach has resulted in the so-called 'second generation' of GE plants.
Traditional genetic modification methods that have been employed—particularly for microbial starter cultures—include selection, mutagenesis, conjugation, and protoplast fusion, the last of which is analogous to somatic hybridization in plant systems.
What does fertilizer do in Rust? ›
Fertilizer can be added to planter boxes to increase the ground condition to 100%. Only items that you'd expect to be compostable can be placed in the composter. It ticks every 15 minutes by default, and once enough stuff has been composted, it'll output a shiny new fertilizer item.
How do you make a perfect plant in Rust? ›
Rust | Cross Breeding Guide - YouTube
How many sprinklers does it take to pump water rust? ›
Sprinklers will each take two mil per second out of any water source. If your source only puts out 6, that's 3 sprinklers maximum. Double that for a source of 12 from the water barrel or large catcher.
How do you clone a hemp rust? ›
A hemp clone is created by taking a clipping of a Hemp Seed plant already planted by a player and brought to the fruiting stage. To create a clipping, hold down the E key while mousing over the plant, and select the cutting option.
What are 5 hybrid plants? ›
The five hybrid varieties of crop plants which have been developed in India are Wheat - Sonalika and Kalyan Sona, Rice - Jaya and Ratna and Cowpea - Pusa Komal. Q.
Is it easy to cross breed plants? ›
In general, it is easier to cross-pollinate flowers and graft trees, shrubs, and hardwood plants. Cross pollination is the process of using one species of plant to pollinate another plant of a different variety.
How do you make a hybrid? ›
Hybridization is done by using the male part of one plant's flower (the stamen) to pollinate the female part of a different plant's flower (the pistil), then harvesting the fruit that the pollinated flower produces and growing its seeds.
Can you cross breed different fruits? ›
Hybrid fruits are created through the controlled speciation of fruits that creates new varieties and cross-breeds. Hybrids are grown using plant propagation to create new cultivars. This may introduce an entirely new type of fruit or improve the properties of an existing fruit.
How do you crossbreed a tree? ›
If a tree is successfully pollinated it will produce fruit that contains hybrid seeds that you can plant. You can also produce a hybrid by taking a cutting from one tree and grafting it to the rootstock of another mature tree. Cut into the branch to expose green flesh on both the branch and the trunk.
Cloning. Plants can be cloned by holding down the use button (default "E") and selecting take cutting.
How do you make a hemp farm in Rust? ›
Rust - Hemp Farm Starter Base - Easy Scrap! - YouTube
How do you clone seeds in Rust? ›
Cloning. Plants can be cloned by holding down the use button (default "E") and selecting take cutting. The Higher the number, the faster the plant grows.
How do you farm berries in Rust? ›
Rust | Tam's Tea Guide (Berry Farming) - YouTube
How do you start a sweet potato? ›
The Absolute Best Way to Start Sweet Potatoes for Slips - YouTube
What stage can you clone pumpkins rust? ›
RUST Pumpkin Plant Clones is a plantable item, acquired through the conventional method by Taking a Clone once a planted Pumpkin Seed or prior pumpkin plant clone reaches the Fruiting Stage of growth.
What do the teas do in Rust? ›
Drinking tea also gives you an instant boost to your thirst bar by granting +30 hydration. Players may stack more than one tea effect at a time, but cannot stack the same effect. For example, Pure max health and Advanced max health cannot stack, the player will take the effect of the strongest tier tea.
How do you get blue berries in Rust? ›
For the time being, blueberries cannot naturally be found in the wild. There is, however, a slight chance for Supply Air Drops to yield as much as 3 Blueberries at a time. On extremely rare occasions, regular loot Barrels might also yield a single Blueberry.
How long does it take to make fertilizer in Rust? ›
It ticks every 15 minutes by default, and once enough stuff has been composted, it'll output a shiny new fertilizer item.
How do you clone berries in Rust? ›
A blue berry clone is created by taking a clipping of a blue berry plant. To create a clipping, hold down the E key while mousing over the berry plant, and select the cutting option. Doing this will produce several clone plants of the berry bush.
Rust | Cross Breeding Guide - YouTube
How do you farm berries in Rust? ›
Rust | Tam's Tea Guide (Berry Farming) - YouTube
Do heaters affect plants rust? ›
How Heaters Impact Plants | Rust - YouTube
What is the fastest way to get fertilizer in Rust? ›
Best Things To Compost & Farming Exploit - [Rust Farming 2.0 Guide]
Does horse dung Despawn in Rust? ›
After the horse poops 12 times, any additional poop will be thrown out and despawn in normal fashion until player returns to empty bag. In addition, there could be a degradation value to the poop after a certain amount time.
How do you clone a pumpkin with rust? ›
Cloning. Plants can be cloned by holding down the use button (default "E") and selecting take cutting.
When can you clone potatoes in Rust? ›
RUST Potato Clones are a plantable item, acquired through the conventional method by Taking a Clone once a planted Potato Seed or prior potato clone reaches the Fruiting Stage of growth.
What do the teas do in Rust? ›
Drinking tea also gives you an instant boost to your thirst bar by granting +30 hydration. Players may stack more than one tea effect at a time, but cannot stack the same effect. For example, Pure max health and Advanced max health cannot stack, the player will take the effect of the strongest tier tea.
What do hemp clones do in Rust? ›
RUST Hemp Clones are a plantable item that players can grow and harvest cloth from. Facepunch added clones and farmable berries in the Mixing Table Update on August 6, 2020. A hemp clone is created by taking a clipping of a Hemp Seed plant already planted by a player and brought to the fruiting stage.
What stage can you clone pumpkins rust? ›
RUST Pumpkin Plant Clones is a plantable item, acquired through the conventional method by Taking a Clone once a planted Pumpkin Seed or prior pumpkin plant clone reaches the Fruiting Stage of growth.
Rust - Hemp Farm Starter Base - Easy Scrap! - YouTube
Is berry farming profitable? ›
The average berry farmer reports a loss for the first few years. After that, however, average profits are reported at between $1.3 million and $2.8 million.
How do you clone plants in Rust? ›
Plants can be cloned by holding down the use button (default "E") and selecting take cutting. The Higher the number, the faster the plant grows.
Where should berries be planted? ›
Select a site with full sun and good air circulation. If planting a variety with long canes (as opposed to the compact varieties for containers) avoid places where high winds can whip the canes around and damage berries.
