Apple Tree

Apple Tree is a fruit tree found naturally in the Pine Forest biome, the dark green region on the map that usually appears on the west side of the island. Each tree yields 4 apples per harvest, and mature trees continue to produce fruit every 6 days after reaching maturity. It takes 12 days for an apple tree to mature.

Apple trees can be planted in any biome or soil type, so they are not restricted to their natural spawn area. Like other fruit trees, they can be grown from fruit by burying an apple with the shovel or dirt printer. A small tree will appear when the fruit is planted correctly. Fruit can be dropped into a dug hole and covered again, placed on the ground and covered by removing and replacing the soil beneath it, or buried with a dirt printer.

Once grown, apple trees can be harvested by hand or with the Har-Vac. The Plant Book can be used on the tree to check its growth stage and fruit cycle. If an apple tree is cut down with an axe or chainsaw, it does not drop wood; it only drops fruit if the fruit was ripe at the time it was cut.

For orchard layout, most players keep around 10–20 trees in a small orchard. Two common planting patterns are:

• 2-wide rows with a 1-tile walkway between rows, which works well when using different ground types such as grass, fir, tropical, dirt, or mud between trees. In autumn, different mushrooms can grow beneath trees depending on the ground type.
• Using every tile in a row, which causes dropped fruit to fall to the outside edge of the last tree in the row. This makes collection easier when using the Har-Vac or simply running along the outside of the orchard to pick up fruit.

Because apple trees can be planted anywhere and harvested repeatedly, they are a reliable early fruit source and a good choice for a managed orchard near your base. Keeping the layout open enough for movement makes fruit collection faster, especially once the orchard becomes large enough to harvest in bulk.