Flower Layouts and Placements:
Which to use where, when, and why?
What is your goal?
"I want all the flowers."
Start from SEED GUIDE
Use: Grid, Turtle, Super Turtle, Hexahole, IP Condensed, Intertwined Diamond
"I want more of the exact same flower."
See SELF CLONE GUIDE
Use: Cloning Grid
"I want lots of the exact same of multiple species of flower."
Use: This
"I want different hybrids of this flower species."
See GUIDES HERE
Use: Grid, Turtle, Diamond, Double Diamonds, Intertwined
"I want lots of hybrids from identical parents"
Use: Super Turtle, Hexahole, Turtle
"I want gold roses."
See GOLD ROSE GUIDE
Use Black roses in: Super Turtle, Hexahole, Turtle
What does this mean? Check FAQ here!
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Grid Best used for: Same Parent Breeding
The grid method is #Garden-Science’s bread and butter… debatably. When it comes to being compact and efficient, it is definitely better than Checkerboard. This is because each flower is touching 2-4 other potential breeding partners at a time WHILE ALSO eliminating most chances of cloning.
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Checkerboard (Checker) Try to avoid this method
The checkerboard method is, sadly, the most popular. It works, it’s just very inefficient. We do not recommend using it, as there are other better alternatives. The reason it’s so inefficient is that there are more empty spaces than is necessary. Flowers can create offspring in a 3x3 square around themself, so empty space doesn’t need to be prioritized as much as we thought. Checker also creates lots of clones.
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Turtle Best used for: Same-Parent Breeding, Efficient Per Space
The Turtle method, while being more complicated than Grid and Checker, is the most productive of the bunch. It’s essentially a Grid pattern where every vertical ‘tier’ is offset by space horizontally. Also, it is shaped like a turtle, which is pretty great. If Visitors often water, best to surround it with blockers (fences, stone paths, etc.)
Super Turtle Best used for: Same-Parent Breeding, 2+ Visitors Watering
The Super Turtle method is a modified Hexahole that more-so resembles the Turtle method. If you plan on using the Hexahole with Visitor Waterers as well, use the Super Turtle instead, since it has more spaces for flowers to spawn. Best to NOT surround it with blockers (fences, stone paths, etc.) if you plan on having visitor waterers.
Hexahole Best used for: Same-Parent Breeding, Efficient Per Space
The Hexahole method is essentially a larger, repeated turtle with borders. For large-space planting without Visitor Waterers, it is the best. For more information, see J_Masters guide!
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2x2 Best used for: Simple layout, Same-Parent Breeding, Efficient Per Flower
The 2x2 Method is the simplest. If using, make sure to have nothing blocking its outside perimeter. Good for if you don't have many flowers.
2x2 Condensed Best used for: Simple layout, Same-Parent, Efficient Per Flower
A condensed version of 2x2 Utilizing multiple species. Keep in mind that flowers of multiple species cannot breed with each other. This is a great method to keep in mind if you don’t have a lot of space on your island, and can also be used for cloning if planted as shown here.
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Independent Pairs Best used for: Controlled Breeding
The Independent Pairs method is great for if you really want to hone in and get only a specific offspring. To be able to tell which offspring come from which pair either use blockers in the empty space shown or double that space.
IP Condensed Best used for: Controlled Breeding
A compact version of the Independent (Isolated) Pairs method. Similar to the Condensed 2x2 method, but much better for use of multiple colors.
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Testing Pairs Best used for: Parent Identification
The testing Pairs method is different, in that it is used for determining what genes each parent has. If, for example, you want to see if a purple rose can be used for breeding hybrid reds, breeding that purple with a seed yellow rose in this pattern is the way to do it! Depending on the offspring produced, your purple rose is either the one you’re looking for or not.
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Cloning Grid Best used for: Simple Cloning
The cloning grid is only one of the many cloning methods. Cloning happens when a flower has no available partners, it will then make an exact duplicate of itself. For more info on cloning, see both of these images.
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Diamond Best used for: Multi-Color Breeding, Efficient, No Clones
The Diamond method is the simplest diamond formation. Many people plant their flowers in the empty spaces instead, but this causes a lot of problems and creates lots of cloning. The diamond method as shown only has four flowers, each flower will always have a partner, therefore there is no situation where cloning can occur.
Double Diamonds Best used for: Multi-Color Breeding, Efficient, Few Clones
The Double Diamond method is a stacked version of the Diamond method. If you want to extend your diamond patterns, try to do so in a way that will minimize cloning, as your diamonds could easily cross the line into checkered territory. This pattern shown here, if every flower were to try to breed, would only ever cause one clone to occur.
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Intertwined Diamonds Best used for: Compacting Diamonds
The Intertwined Diamonds method is a multi-species space compacting method. In this exact size, as shown, every flower has at least one open tile to breed into.
Intertwined Double Diamonds Best used for: Biggest Diamond
The Intertwined Double Diamonds method is a larger version of the Intertwined Diamonds method that still gives each flower at least one tile of space to breed into. There are many different ways diamonds could be laid out, so choose which is best for you!
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Credits:
Datamining: Aeter, Paleh, BackwardsN, Ninji
Layouts: Chomp, Catobat, PCVXD, J_Master
Written and Visual Guide: Peach-n-Key, J_Master, YamiiNoKaabii
Simple Cloning Guide: Yue_Crossing