One of the major mechanics that are a part of Stardew Valley are the fruit trees. They provide important fruit for various recipes, more expensive preserves and wine, and are crucial for getting all the bundles finished in the Community Center. Fruit trees are also expensive to buy, picky about growing conditions, and spring trees are problematic in year one. But several of them do look pretty.
So it’s safe to say whether they are a great boost to the farm or an annoying grumbling necessity to finish off a completionist run, there’s no denying their importance to your farm in this game.
Beginning and even intermediate players who have been away for a while have a lot of questions about fruit trees in Stardew Valley and we’re here to answer all of them!
What Are the Best Fruit Trees in Stardew Valley?
From a pure money making point, at first glance none of the trees are fantastic. Because by basic fruit prices, it takes multiple years of seasons to make up the original purchase price of the saplings. That said, these fruits can be made into jelly or wine which sell for larger amounts, some of which are quite decent levels of gold, but quickly can be overshadowed by other crops.
Plus the fruits that are most valuable also come from saplings that cost more. This makes fruits that have other uses more useful when taking a whole picture approach.
All of the originals can be used in bundles in the community center, for example. Though only apples and pomegranates are 100% required to finish the Community Center bundles and then those same fruits can be used for the same bundle as the other fruit.
Early on the best two fruit trees in Stardew Valley are apple and pomegranate because they can be planted early enough to get a full season’s worth of harvests from them, and while they can be used in the Artisan Bundle for the Community Center like all the other fruit, they are also the only fruits that are the only option for other bundles.
Meaning not only are they still good for jelly/wine, but you need those trees to finish the community bundle – assuming you didn’t overpay for them from the travelling cart or for some inexplicable reason went with fruit bats over mushrooms in the cave.
Most Important Fruit Tree Mechanic to Understand: Above all it’s important to remember that from the day the sapling you bought is planted to the day it matures takes a full 28 days. That means if you want a summer fruit, you need to plant that summer tree in spring. For fall fruit trees, they must be planted by summer. The earlier in the previous season you plant the tree, the more fruit you’ll get from it.
This also means growing spring fruit is impossible in year one unless you plant spring fruit trees in the greenhouse.
Here is a chart comparing the major types of fruit trees, however it is important to note that the sapling cost is the consistent cost from where it’s available, a lot of these come up from the traveling cart at variable prices. Often they’re more expensive but sometimes they’re cheaper.
| Fruit Tree Type | Season | Sapling Cost | Base Value | Additional Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apricot | Spring | $2,000 @ Pierre’s | 50g | Used in 1 CC bundle |
| Apple | Autumn | $4,000 @ Pierre’s | 100g | Used in 2 CC bundles |
| Banana | Summer | 5 Dragon Tooth | 150g | Needed for Island Obelisk |
| Cherry | Spring | $3,400 @ Pierre’s | 80g | Used in 1 CC bundle |
| Mango | Summer | 75 Mussels | 130g | Loved gift for Leo |
| Orange | Summer | $4,000 @ Pierre’s | 100g | Used in 1 CC bundle |
| Peach | Summer | $6,000 @ Pierre’s | 140g | Used in 1 CC bundle |
| Pomegranate | Autumn | $6,000 @ Pierre’s | 140g | Used in 2 CC bundles |
The banana and mango trees don’t become available until after you unlock Ginger Island, and the costs for those are related to items found on that island as opposed to gold used for the original fruit trees.
All of them can be bought from Pierre’s for the standard price. The prices will vary from the traveling cart. Sometimes they can be cheaper, normally I find them to be more expensive. But once in a while you can get one heck of a deal.
Can I Plant Fruit Trees in Winter?
Fruit trees can be planted in the winter as in planted in the ground, but they’re not going to grow which makes it mostly pointless. Even if you put down a spring tree, since it wouldn’t grow at all you still wouldn’t get even a single fruit out of it the next year since it would need all of spring to grow into maturity.
The only way to plant fruit trees in winter that actually grow is to plant them inside the greenhouse. Otherwise planting fruit trees in the winter just allows you to et them up where you want them to eventually sprout during spring, summer, and fall, but they won’t grow a single day in the snow.
Can I Use Tree Fertilizer on Fruit Trees?
The short answer is no, which is a shame in the eyes of many SV players because it would be nice to get those spring fruit trees growing during the winter. Unfortunately, tree fertilizer can NOT be used with fruit trees, but only with wild trees.
Tree fertilizer does make it much easier to grow Mahogany trees and will even allow wild trees to actually grow during the winter, but it will not work with fruit trees and putting tree fertilizer down on a spot means you actually can’t plant a fruit tree there until it’s removed.
Why Won’t My Fruit Trees Grow in the Greenhouse?
Many players are surprised to learn that fruit trees can actually grow in the greenhouse. This creates a great place to add fruit trees for all season that can also be harvested in all seasons.
However, some players have struggled to figure out the proper spacing to get the trees to actually grow and mature in the greenhouse.
The picture over to the left is optimized. This is the best possible spacing that allows you to grow a lot of trees in the greenhouse without any of them being in the way of others.
The spacing inside the greenhouse still matters. If you have iridium sprinklers too close or you do what I like to do and have the entire inside lined with preserve jars and kegs in the early game – then those will interfere with the growth of fruit trees.
Make sure to clear everything out before planting and don’t have them too far back at the top or too far forward in the other three sides of the greenhouse.
Follow those basic guidelines and you should be good to go.
Can I Move My Fruit Trees?
No. While it is possible to move buildings on your farm by talking to Robin, you can’t move your fruit trees. They’re rooted in the ground. Once they’re planted they are where they are.
So make that placement decision carefully before putting them in their last spot – because chopping up a fruit tree is a very, very expensive way to get wood.
Why Is My Fruit Tree Smoking?
Ah, you caught a relatively special even if this happens. If a fruit tree is smoking, that means it was struck by lightning in the game. There is a good news/bad news scenario with when this happens.
Your fruit tree will be smoking more than one day. During this time it won’t produce fruit, but it will actually produce coal that can be harvested. This isn’t a permanent state – eventually the tree recovers and goes back to providing its fruit but for a while you have a coal tree on your Stardew Valley farm.
Maybe it’s a sign you need more lightning rods around the farm?
What Happens if My Fruit Tree Gets Hit by Lightning?
If your fruit tree in Stardew Valley gets hit by lightning it turns black and smoking, the fruit on there that hadn’t been harvested turns to coal, and the fruit that comes up for the next few days as coal.
The tree should be back to normal after four days although there are some unsubstantiated reports of occasional times when it took five days instead. Enjoy the free coal during that time.
Why Didn’t My Fruit Tree Grow Last Night?
Sometimes in the morning a message will come up that a fruit tree was not able to grow the night before. There can be a few reason for this but generally the root causes are the same. Something grew into the fruit tree’s space which keeps it from growing. This is usually grass/weeds that grew into the trees, or an acorn, pine cone, or maple seed that fell from a nearby tree and took root in the ground.
To make sure the fruit tree can start growing again all you need to do is:
- Find the tree that stopped growing
- Take a scythe, sword, hoe, or pick and clear the area around the tree to make sure its not being choked out anymore
That’s it. From that point on your fruit tree should be able to grow without interference and without consequence.
New Trees on Ginger Island
After the huge 1.5 update there are two new fruit trees which can be found on Ginger Island. To get to this point you need to finish off the community center and have at least a minimum level of friendship with Willy. The fruits from these trees are more valuable, are necessary for certain specialty dishes, and for the Island Obelisk, which definitely cuts back on the travel time.
They are a nice addition to all the (Spoilers) new island crop and island farm that opens up as you explore the new territory and design yet another area to your liking to be your own.
Are Fruit Trees Worth It In Stardew Valley?
This all depends on how you view it. From a pure monetary standpoint, there are plenty of ways to make more gold, even with the use of casks and preserve jars (hello ancient fruit and star fruit) but when you add in the community bundles, the loved gifts with certain towns people, the occasional quest or ingredient need for cooking, some of these are pretty decent.
And some of the trees are absolutely gorgeous which adds a nice variety to the farm. You won’t break open the million gold challenge from a fruit orchard but they’re a nice addition to any farm and provide more fruit that can always be used in that huge shed of kegs you have. You…you have built that huge shed of kegs, right?
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Proud to embrace the locally created moniker of “Corrupt Overlord” from one of the all time great Lords of Waterdeep runs, Shane is one member of the Assorted Meeples crew and will be hard at work creating awesome content for the website. He is a long-time player of board games, one time semi-professional poker player, and tends to run to the quirky or RPG side of things when it comes to playing video games. He loves tabletop roleplaying systems like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Werewolf, Fate, and others, and not only has been a player but has run games as DM for years. You can find his other work in publications like Level Skip or Hobby Lark.