With fish tycoon, I quickly developed a system for breeding. I spent a whole lot of time getting all the fin-types for 2 sets of fish. then would cross greenfin-fish1 with greenfin-fish2 to create greenfin-fish3. crossing the entire set, would give me easily and quickly an entire set of fish 3. which then could be crossed with either 1 or 2 for a fourth set.

I'm trying to figure out a system for plant tycoon, but I'm really stumbling around. I've discovered 143 species but they are all over the chart. I can't figure out if it makes more sense to do my "sets" by flower or foliage type. I haven't been able to get a full set of anything because I think I'm missing one of the basic types but I'm not sure what it is.

so basically I'm just curious about your breeding pattern. Are you going at it randomly? are you trying to get all the maples first and working from there? do you use the mutation potion? how do you decide which seeds to keep?

I'd start with a 'spotted' something if you can find one.

As for plant type, 'Reptans' will get you going reasonably well...

(I DO have all the types and all the flowers, however. If you'd like to send me a pm with what you have, I can tell you what, if anything you're missing.)

Lots of questions!

I haven't been trying to breed "sets" there just aren't enough pots in the greenhouse to do that right, plus the fact that unlike Fish Tycoon, once a plant has produced seeds, it can't do so again (but can pollinate others.)

I think that whatever system is used, it depends on your goals. Are you only trying to find the Magic Plants? Getting every type of species? Have complete breeding charts that you create yourself? How important is it to have everything in one game vs. finding all of the information across several games?

When I first started, I was interested in both creating my own breeding charts as well as finding the Magic Plants. I worked mostly from two separate games and let the breeding be mostly random (but looking for new crosses I could make) and filling in my flowers and foliage charts from both games. (I would fill in both ways of doing the cross at once, but make the one I didn't do in italics. That way I could verify it if I made the same cross later.) I also started an "all species" chart that I would fill in from either game.

When I completed most of the breeding crosses, I also specifically looked for a full plant cross that I haven't discovered yet. That way I may have started a new track of breeding, or found a new Magic Plant!

Eventually, I also did mutation research and bought new seeds to fill in more holes.

Right now my games are aiming to see how to make the Magic Plants most efficiently, so those games are ignoring many plants that I could make.

Deciding which seeds to keep are the hardest part! There isn't enough room in the seed boxes! I try to keep pairs of everything until there is no more room, then I try to keep samples of each seed as well as making sure that I also have a sample of each flower the seed will produce (that part is harder.)

But I'll (from now on) always try to keep a couple of reptans and ball cacti around since those seem to be the hardest to find again.

I've been playing one game only. I have a chart that I altered from something I found here to keep track of all that I've discovered. So my goal is basically to fill in the chart, discover everything. Which in time will lead to all the magic plants (have 3 so far).

as for seeds, I don't keep any seeds that have two different parents showing in the heritage chart. I plant that and pollinate with itself, so every seed in my box is completely clear about what it will be. I started with keeping 2 of each and then 1 of each and now I'm getting to the point where I don't have space for each and I'm afraid of throwing away the wrong ones. which is why I'm trying to figure out what my Breeding Pattern will be. Need to plan better.

It took me a long time to get something spotted, think it was a mutation formula that finally did it. I'm pretty sure that spotted is one that you can't get from breeding but only from mutation/seeds. Which other types are only from mutation/seeds and not breeding? I asked about that on another thread but got a kind of vague answer. at this point, I'd like someone to spell it out. Once I know which ones I can't get by breeding, I'll know to keep those for sure.

I spent today just breeding expensive plants over and over again to get money up. I spend a lot on quick-grow potions since I'm impatient and only playing one game. I also like buying mutation formulas (particularly now that I know its not random... I use the chart (http://www.ldwforums.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/95769/page/1#Post95769 ) and look to see what possibilities I could get from mutation. So no more wasted money, I only mutate if the odds are in my favor for getting something brand new.

(and that is the chart I was directed to to see which things can't be made by breeding. it looks to me like spotted and tilia are it, but the person said there are 4, so I'm confused)

I'd love to hear more people chime in about your strategy. Everyone has different goals and different ideas about how to make it work so its neat to hear what people are doing.

Which flowers and plants can't be created just from breeding is a bit more complicated than the "Breeding & Mutation Key" indicates. That is because some can only be bred by backtracking from the Tier 4 flowers/foliage and you can can only get there by buying seeds or using the mutagen.

The strategy I started with was breeding for the flower types. I was able to get all flower types of one foilage type (I used astera since I had the Citrus, Spotted, and Daisy of that breed, since they are some of the hardest to come by, but any Foilage type will do). I bred those until I had all of the possible matches of flower types. Now I am on to the foilage types, which is a bit easier since (A) I can identify the foilage type by the shape/color of the seed thanks to sfrose's seed catalog, and (B) since I have all the possible flower combinations, I can tell if I need to keep that seed or if I have already had it before. I have five different spreadsheets going, one to keep track of each species and how many I have found, two to chart the foilage, and two to chart the flower, either by parents or product. I've only finished this for the first three tiers of plants, I'm waiting on the fourth to either purchase some seeds, or play around with the mutation liquid.

I lucked into the first 5 magic plants. The last one I worked for about 2 full days of playing and finally got this evening. The aureus scandens. I just kept cross breeding all the scandens I could get and then breeding again. I finally got it tonight. I'll probably start all over again once I get the last 3 bugs. This time I'll know to keep some seeds that I'll need later in the game. It's been great fun.