Plant Washing/Neutralization Deficiency

Preface: this is purely constructive criticism based on my understanding.

This might be a little bit of a hot take, but after looking at the yields of regular Kindlevine Stems vs Washed Stems (and same for Silverthorn), I’m seeing a deficiency that makes the tech seem like it’s not really optimizing my factory. Here’s some numbers (I double and triple checked, but it’s late so correct me if any is wrong). I’m going to abbreviate Kindlevine as KV and Silverthorn as ST for simplicity.

1 KV -> 3 KV extract, 3 Plantmatter fiber

2 KV + 12 ST extract -> 1 Washed Stem

1 Washed Stem -> 14 KV extract (no byproduct)

The same ratios apply for Silverthorn.

So here’s the dilemma: you set up an extensive factory to get the stems/buds washed/neutralized, but you’re netting 4 less extract per stem. 2 regular stems would produce 6 extract. A washed stem yields 14, but if you’re running a cyclical setup that cleans both plants, you spend 12 of that going back to clean the other plant. As it takes 2 stems/buds to produce the cleaned version, this nets you 4 less extract from cleaning.

Onto my other point: the system itself. You can run 3 secondary threshers to keep up with the first threshers if you’re just using regular stems/buds, but if you wash them, they require far more threshers. This takes a lot of other resources to set up, and also occupies a ton of space. Personally, I have 60 threshers allocated to processing washed/neutralized stems and buds. As I’m writing, I’m considering deconstructing my farm to downsize by omitting the plant cleaning step, since I would need just 24 threshers and also would get more kindlevine bricks (I have more than plenty of gel, though).

I do love the idea of washing the plants to optimize processing. It’s just that, in terms of producing the relevant extracts, it seems to be less optimal than just threshing unwashed product. I’d take the argument for converting those to plantmatter bricks if I didn’t already have a separate kindlevine setup that turns the unwashed stems to plant frames, then into bricks. So, in my honest and humble opinion, it seems the stem washing rates could use another glance. As proud as I am for my setup, seeing the numbers and realizing a deficiency makes the perfectionist side of my brain want to scrap the farm and start over. That’s something I’ve done numerous times now, though my prior builds were scrapped due to me learning the game and trying to find ways to make a better factory.

Still a wonderful game that I am eager beyond words to watch grow, these are just my thoughts on something that perhaps could be improved. Keep up the great work, devs, and thank you much for the joyous experience!

Sincerely, a first-time factory gamer.

ETA: I’ve already realized I forgot to account for production speed, and there’s an argument to be made about speed versus resource efficiency. In retrospect, wanting to have more kindlevine faster does hinge on that wash step since the additional threshers running means more produced per minute. And considering I’m at the “end-game” (for the current update), per minute rates are more important than getting the most out of my resources. So… I suppose take this with a grain of salt.