by The Potato is a Spring Crop in Stardew Valley and it is surely the best crop to start with in your first year on your farm (parsnips should also be mentioned because of their very low cost) and without a doubt one of the best of this season in general.
They stand out for growing relatively quickly and for having quite decent profits, especially considering that there is a probability that they will give us more than one potato when harvesting (which we will take into account below for their profitability).
Obviously they are not at the level of Strawberries (they play another league, although they have their thing), but it has surprised me after finishing this analysis that they are more profitable than Green Beans (another highly recommended crop for Spring, but apparently a little less recommended, although it is easier to manage since it is multi-crop, which of course we have taken into account for the calculations).
HOW TO GET POTATOES IN STARDEW VALLEY
To get Potatoes we must of course go to our trusted seed store (Pierre’s store, from Mercajoja we spent a bit ), it generally has better prices and promotes the style of play that Stardew Valley should be. In addition, those of Mercajoja are not clean wheat.
We must acquire Potato Sprouts , they cost 50 coins each and each one serves us for a harvest.
ANALYSIS OF RENTABILITY
Let’s start by looking at your data:
- Potato Sprout Cost: 50.
- Growth Time: 6 days.
- Production: 1.25 potatoes/6 days (below I explain this 1.25 better).
- Sale of Raw Potato:
- Normal: 80 (88 with Labrador).
- Silver: 100 (110 with Labrador).
- Gold: 120 (132 with Labrador).
- Iridium: 160 (176 with Labrador).
- Sale of Pickled Potato:
- 210 (294 with Artisan).
- Sale of Potato Juice:
- 180 (252 with Artisan).
BENEFIT PER PLANTATION
We will analyze the benefit per planting of the Potato in all its possible cases (also subtracting the cost of the Potato Sprout). We will take into account that 1.25 of Potatoes per harvest, this is because the Potatoes have a probability of giving more than one Potato when harvested; how this works is somewhat confusing, you keep in mind that in the end, on average, you will get more or less 1.25 potatoes per harvest .
Clarified this, these would be the benefits of raw Potato:
- No Labrador:
- Normal: 50 Coins x plantation.
- Silver: 75.
- Gold: 100.
- Iridium: 150 Coins x plantation .
- With Labrador:
- Normal: 60 Coins x plantation.
- Silver: 87.5.
- Gold: 115.
- Iridium: 170 Coins x plantation .
And for the Pickle and the Potato Juice, this would be the benefit taking into account that 1.25 of Potatoes and subtracting the cost of the Sprouts:
- Without Craftsman:
- Pickled Potato: 212.5 Coins.
- Potato Juice: 175.
- With Craftsman:
- Pickled Potato: 317.5 Coins
- Potato juice: 265.
You can see that this is another of those cases in which the Pickle spreads more than the Juice, just as it happens with the Green Bean .
PLANTING DAY 1 OF SPRING AND UNTIL THE END
It is not a crop that yields more than one harvest, so you will have to replant each time you harvest (which implies more costs). Since we already have the benefit for each potato plantation, doing the calculations assuming that we spend the whole spring planting them, will be quite simple.
Under normal conditions (without using Boost Fertilizers), we will be able to harvest Potatoes a total of 4 times (and we have 3 days to spare to still get those 4 harvests). With Fertilizers you can greatly improve the benefits since depending on the one you choose you can harvest them from 5 to 9 times in the best possible case. But as always, we will do the calculations without taking Fertilizers into account to know the minimum that we can obtain.
Raw potatoes (we will assume that they all come out of the same rarity and then we will average, which would be the closest to reality). Let’s clarify that we are talking about 1 single plantation that we will renew, if you plant several Potatoes simultaneously you only have to multiply.
- No Labrador:
- Normal: 200 Coins.
- Silver: 300.
- Gold: 400.
- Iridium: 600.
- Medium: 375 Coins .
- With Labrador:
- Normal: 240 Coins.
- Silver: 350.
- Gold: 460.
- Iridium: 680.
- Medium: 432.5 Coins .
Potato Juice (we will see this one first because it is less profitable than the following one):
- No Craftsman: 700 Coins .
- With Artisan: 1060 Coins .
Potato pickle:
- No Craftsman: 850 Coins .
- With Artisan: 1270 Coins .
Well, even with the facilities provided by the Green Bean (another highly recommended Spring Crop), the Potato is clearly the winner (and let’s not even talk about Fertilizers, because there it comes out winning even more). More cumbersome, because you want it or not, the fact that Green Beans can be harvested multiple times with the same seed is practical, but in the end it is more profitable in terms of benefits.
OTHER USES OF THE POTATO
The Potato can also be used for the following:
- It is a product of the Spring Crops Bundle, so be sure to plant it at least once in order to complete it.
- It is an ingredient of the Potato Croquettes , whose recipe asks us for 1 Potato and a unit of Oil. It restores 40 Health and 90 Energy. We can sell them for 120 Coins, but this is not profitable since the Oil itself can already be sold for 100 Coins.
- It serves as an orange dye.
