Guide To Sprinklers In Stardew Valley

Sprinklers will save you time, energy, and trips to refill your watering can. Here's everything you need to know about them.

In Stardew Valley, sprinkler irrigation is the way to go. With a good sprinkler placed amidst your crops, you won't have to spend as much time, energy, and effort watering them manually with your watering can.

RELATED: Stardew Valley: How To Upgrade And Use Every Tool

Sprinklers come in three different levels, covering a wider and wider range of tiles around them. Here, we'll cover each one's range, how to get them, and some other things worth knowing.

Updated January 11, 2023 by Jacqueline Zalace: There is a lot to know about sprinklers in Stardew Valley, so we've updated this guide with even more information to help you.

There are three sprinklers in Stardew Valley, with each one being more powerful than the one before it. This means it will cover more tiles, watering more crops and saving space. The Stardew Valley sprinklers are as follows:

Sprinklers will not work on the beach farm layout!

Recipe Source

Crafting Cost

Farming Level 2

The basic sprinkler is just called a "sprinkler," and it's the first one you'll probably obtain. It covers only four tiles — one tile up, one down, one to the left, and one to the right. You'll learn the recipe for the basic sprinkler at farming level two, which is how you earn other sprinklers as well.

You might also find sprinklers for sale at the Traveling Cart, which appears in the Cindersap Forest on Fridays and Saturdays.

It'll be tough to cover a full field of crops with the basic sprinkler, as they don't cover much total area. However, they're better than doing it manually, as long as you have enough resources to craft them. Even though an upgraded watering can cover more tiles than these sprinklers, it requires energy and refilling, whereas sprinklers are automatic.

Recipe Source

Crafting Cost

Farming Level 6

Quality sprinklers are the next best and will seem like a major upgrade compared to the basic sprinkler. They cover eight total tiles — up, down, left, right, and each of the four diagonals. This creates a small square of 3x3, with the quality sprinkler in the center.

It's often recommended that you make your first few crop-growing areas in 3x3 grids, so that when you get your first quality sprinklers, they'll fit perfectly into the middle without the need for rearranging.

Like the basic sprinklers, quality sprinklers can be purchased from the Traveling Cart sometimes.

Recipe Source

Crafting Cost

Farming Level 9

Easily the best sprinklers in the game, iridium sprinklers are fantastic and will probably be what you strive for as your farm develops. Iridium sprinklers cover 24 total tiles. Picture another full square of tiles around the inner eight that are covered by a quality sprinkler, or a 5x5 grid with the iridium sprinkler in the center.

A reliable way to obtain iridium sprinklers is from Krobus' shop once you unlock the Sewers. He sells one every Friday for 10,000 gold.

As for crafting iridium sprinklers, it won't be easy in the early game. If you are struggling to find the materials, check out our guides on how to obtain Iridium and batteries.

In the post-game, you'll find some cool new items that are upgrades for your sprinklers. These are the pressure nozzle and the enricher. These can be attached to sprinklers for different effects, and you'll find them in the list of rewards at Qi's Walnut Room.

To unlock Qi's Walnut Room, you'll need to begin your adventure on Ginger Island and start collecting Golden Walnuts. Once you unlock the west side of the island with the island farm, you'll find Qi's Walnut room in the far northwest of the area. You'll need to collect 100 Golden Walnuts to unlock it.

After gaining access to Qi's special room, you can take on quests to earn Qi Gems, which are then spent on the right-hand board for special items, like these sprinkler upgrades.

If the iridium sprinkler still isn't covering the range you're looking for, never fear! The pressure nozzle will increase the range of your sprinklers even more.

Pressure nozzles increase the range of the sprinkler they're placed on by one tile in each direction. So, they'll cover a square as follows:

With pressure nozzles, you can cover the entire Greenhouse with only one farmable tile lost to a sprinkler. Check out our guide to see how!

They can be purchased from Qi's special shop at a price of 20 Gems for four pressure nozzles. Additionally, while completing the Danger in the Deep quest (or after you've activated the Shrine of Challenge), slimes may drop a pressure nozzle, but it's very rare.

Enrichers, when placed on a sprinkler, can be loaded with fertilizer like a chest. Any tilled soil nearby that the sprinkler can reach will be fertilized automatically with whichever fertilizer you've loaded into the enricher.

You can, as mentioned, purchase these for Qi Gems (20 Gems for four enrichers) at Qi's Walnut Room. But, you can also find them as monster drops while under the effects of Qi's Skull Cavern quest challenges.

Now, let's take a look at some of the best layouts for your sprinklers. As a rule of thumb, we recommend using iridium sprinklers whenever possible.

As mentioned above, it's possible to cover your entire greenhouse with sprinklers, while only losing one tile in the center. In the image above, courtesy of the official Stardew Valley Wiki, you can see the optimal layout for these sprinklers in your greenhouse. This allows you to cover nearly every space and maximize the land without wasting too many spaces.

Remember, in the greenhouse, you can place any sprinkler type on the border along the edge of the soil. If you have just a few spaces that need water, try placing basic or quality sprinklers here.

In terms of sprinklers outdoors, the best method is to keep your sprinklers as close as possible without causing any overlap. With iridium sprinklers, you can cover large spaces, maximizing each tile of tillable soil.

If you are still using the basic sprinklers, try staggering them diagonally. If you place the basic sprinklers in a grid formation, then you will have spaces in the corners of each area. Instead, place the sprinklers diagonally, as shown in the image above.

Next: Stardew Valley: Complete Guide

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