Can Crops Die In Stardew Valley?

If you’re relatively new to playing Stardew Valley, then you might be wondering how the farming and crop planting works. Some of the questions you might have include:

Do crops die if you don’t water them in Stardew?

Why are my crops dying in Stardew?

How long does it take for crops to die in Stardew Valley?

We’ve got the answers to these questions, and more, below.

Do crops die in Stardew Valley?

Yes, crops do die in Stardew Valley. This happens when the seasons change.

The only exception to this is if the crop grows in next season as well.

Otherwise, once you end day 28 in the current season, your currently planted crops die with the start of the new season the next day.

What if my crops are randomly dying for no reason?

Even if you’re watering your crops each day, you still might have a crop randomly wilt and die for seemingly no reason.

But there are actually are some reasons this might happen.

Here’s why your watered crops might wilt and die during the season:

struck by lightning
a crow ate it

Tip: Lightning rods can intercept those bolts, and scarecrows can protect from the crows.

Do crops die if you don’t water them in Stardew Valley?

Yes, the crops will die if you don’t water them — but only if you miss more than one day of watering them.

If you skip watering your crops just one day, then they will not die.

But if you go two days with out watering your crops, they immediately die.

What happens if I don’t water my plants in Stardew?

Nothing happens if you don’t water them for one day, except they will be harvestable one day later.

If you go two days and beyond without watering them, they will die though.

Each time you skip just a single watering day (not more than one day) they lose a day on harvest. So, over the course of the season you end up harvesting less of the crop, and making less money from selling your crops.

What If You Don’t Have Your Water Can Cause You’re Upgrading It?

Ideally, you should be watching the weather on TV in your Stardew home each morning when you get up. And that lets you know when it’s going to rain.

Hint: upgrade your watering can when you know it’s going to rain.

But, if you’ve already given Clint your watering can to upgrade it, and it’s not gonna rain, what can you do?

Can you craft some sprinklers?

That’s one option, but you’ll still end up missing one day of watering. Sprinklers only work overnight, they don’t instantly water plants immediately after you plunk them down.

Another good tip is to upgrade your watering can before Spring, during the Winter season period in the game.

Do I still have to water crops (like corn) that keep producing after they hit maturity?

You’ll have to keep watering them if you want them to continue producing. They’ll wither if they aren’t watered for a long period of time.

But remember, you can craft sprinklers so that you don’t have to spend time using your watering can on the crops.

And I’m pretty sure flowers can be left unwatered after they bloom if you don’t pick them (for example with bee hives).

Our other Stardew Valley articles you might enjoy: