How to get wheat in Solarpunk

Finding Wheat in Solarpunk is an essential step toward progressing beyond the bare basics, but you'll see the staple crop show up as a research requirement long before you can actually get it. Wheat doesn't grow on any of the islands you initially have access to, and the merchant doesn't offer it in exchange for item trades. You'll need to establish a decent production line first so you can upgrade your airship, but once you do get that upgrade, you'll have access to enough wheat to start a small farm dedicated only to it.

In this guide, we'll show you how to get Wheat in Solarpunk and outline some of the steps you'll need to take before you can harvest it.

How to get Wheat in Solarpunk

The large island east of the merchant ship is home to wheat and other useful plants. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Cyberwave, Metaroot

Wheat grows on the larger island clusters east and west of the merchant ship, but you can't reach them until you upgrade your airship for the first time.

You'll see Wheat as a requirement for unlocking decorations and a new research tier quite early in the game. However, no Wheat grows on the island where you start, and you won't find it on the island west of the merchant's shop either. It's just outside the boundaries of where your starter airship can travel.

So, you'll need to complete the rigmarole of upgrading your airship before you can get Wheat. That involves a process of forking over quite a lot of materials to the merchant — watermelons, cotton, a large supply of beeswax, and an even larger supply of processed copper. Once you finally get your airship upgrade component, head back to your dock and interact with the panel next to the instruction booklet to upgrade your ship. There are no extra material requirements for this, so you won't have to scrounge around for more after giving so much to the merchant.

The island cluster west of the merchant ship is where you'll find more wheat and quartz deposits, too. | Image credit: Cyberwave/Metaroot via Rock Paper Shotgun

Wheat grows on both of the new island clusters now in your reach, in roughly equal amounts. The eastern island has a water supply — handy if you're looking to relocate your base — and a few other plants to gather. The western island cluster is more interesting, though. In addition to Wheat, you'll find several Quartz nodes and, on the far western island, a Quartz vein. Make plans to bring a drill back here for easier quartz farming, as you'll need to process quartz into Silicon for several upcoming projects. Both islands have supply chests with useful items in them, so make sure to loot those, too.

Anyway, once you're done exploring, you should have about eight Wheat seeds and eight clusters of Wheat. Head back to your base, unlock the next research tier for one stack of Wheat, and then unlock animal basics for a couple more. This'll get you started on the path of animal husbandry, so you can finally do something useful with those wandering chickens. Plant your Wheat seeds, set up a sprinkler or two to keep them reliably watered, and you're good to go.