Fertilizer is the item that keeps your planter boxes growing at full speed. It raises a planter’s ground condition, it comes out of a Composter, and the cheapest way to make a lot of it is a fed horse. Any spare stacks also sell for scrap at Bandit Camp.
This Fertilizer Rust guide covers how to get fertilizer, which items make the most of it, how to use it on your planters, how much each plant needs, where to sell it for scrap, and whether your horse dung is better spent on fertilizer or fuel.
- What It Is
- Stats
- How to Get It
- Horse Dung Method
- How to Use It
- Sell for Scrap
- Fertilizer or Fuel
- Tips
- FAQ
What Is Fertilizer in Rust?
Fertilizer is a farming resource that, in the game’s own words, “helps plants grow by increasing ground condition. Produced in a composter.” It came in with the Farming 2.0 update in April 2020, alongside the Composter, horse dung and the four plant conditions: ground condition, water, light and temperature.
Of those four, ground condition is the one only fertilizer can raise. Water comes from catchers, pumps and sprinklers, light from the sun or ceiling lights, and temperature from your biome and heaters. If you grow hemp for cloth, berries for Mixing Table teas like Scrap Tea, or corn and pumpkins for food, fertilizer is what keeps those planters at full yield.
Fertilizer Stats
| Stat | Fertilizer |
|---|---|
| Shortname / Item ID | fertilizer / -930193596 |
| Stack size | 1,000 |
| Made in | Composter (the only source) |
| Craftable | No |
| Found in loot | No |
| Recyclable | No |
| Used for | Raising ground condition in planter boxes |
| Sells for | 3 scrap per 2 fertilizer at the Bandit Camp Produce Exchange |
| Despawn time | About 5 minutes when dropped |
You can look up the ID of fertilizer and every other item in our Rust item IDs list.
How to Get Fertilizer in Rust
There is only one way to make fertilizer: put compostable items into a Composter. The Composter costs 200 wood and 2 tarp, needs no workbench and runs without fuel or power. Every 5 minutes it breaks down items in its slots, adds up their fertilizer value, and hands you a whole fertilizer each time the total passes 1.
| Item | Fertilizer each | Items for 10 fertilizer |
|---|---|---|
| Horse Dung | 10 | 1 |
| Small Trout and other fish | 0.8 | about 13 |
| Corn, Pumpkin | 0.3 | about 34 |
| Berries (any colour), Potato, Mushroom | 0.2 | 50 |
| Plant Fiber | 0.2 | 50 |
| Raw, cooked or spoiled meat | about 0.1 to 0.2 | 50 to 100 |
You will not find fertilizer in barrels, crates or any other loot container, and you cannot craft or buy it from a vendor. Apart from the Composter, the only other way to get it is to trade with another player.
The Horse Dung Method
Horse dung is worth 10 fertilizer, while a piece of corn is worth only 0.3. That gap is why every serious farm runs crops through a horse first:
- Build a Hitch & Trough beside your farm. It costs 200 wood and needs no workbench.
- Hitch a horse and fill the trough with spare food. Our horse guide covers how to get one and keep it alive.
- Pick up the dung the fed horse drops behind it.
- Put the dung in your Composter. Each piece turns into 10 fertilizer.
A hitched horse in a safe corner of your compound is the cheapest fertilizer machine in the game. The livestock update added cows, sheep and more to farm beside it.
How to Use Fertilizer in Rust
Open a planter box and drop fertilizer into it, the same way you would fill a storage box. The plants use it up as they grow, and it keeps the planter’s ground condition high. Look at a plant to see all four conditions in its info panel.
- About 1 fertilizer per plant each grow cycle: 9 for a Large Planter Box and 3 for a Small Planter Box.
- The weakest condition wins. A plant’s overall condition is capped by its lowest stat, so fertilizer does nothing for a planter that is dry or dark. Set up water from a catcher or a water pump first.
- Planters only. Seeds planted straight in the ground have no storage, so you cannot fertilize them. Use planter boxes for anything you care about.
- Top it up. Check the planter each time you harvest and add more before the next batch goes in.
Better ground condition means healthier plants, faster growth and a bigger harvest, which matters most for crops you grow in bulk like hemp and berries.
How to Sell Fertilizer for Scrap
The Produce Exchange vending machine at Bandit Camp buys fertilizer at 2 fertilizer for 3 scrap. That makes one piece of horse dung worth 15 scrap once it is composted, and a stack of 100 fertilizer worth 150 scrap.
The vendor only holds so much scrap and refills a little at a time, so you cannot dump a full stack in one go. Sell what you can each time you pass through, or set up your own vending machine for other players. If you are saving scrap for the tech tree, a horse, a Composter and regular Bandit Camp trips add up to a steady trickle.
Fertilizer or Fuel?
Horse dung also burns in the Biofuel Generator, where each piece becomes 1 low grade fuel. In a Composter, the same piece becomes 10 fertilizer, enough for a full Large Planter Box with one to spare, or 15 scrap at Bandit Camp.
Pick based on your base. A farm base wants the fertilizer. A base that runs its lights and furnaces on low grade, with no crops to feed, wants the fuel. If you have more dung than either needs, compost it and sell the fertilizer.
Fertilizer Tips
- Fertilize when you plant. Drop fertilizer in with every new batch of seeds or clones, not after the plants have already slowed down.
- Compost your scraps. Spoiled food, extra berries and plant fiber from dead plants still give fertilizer, so nothing from the farm goes to waste.
- Fix the weakest stat first. More fertilizer will not help a plant held back by water, light or temperature.
- Don’t drop it. Fertilizer on the floor despawns in about 5 minutes.
- Feed your bees too. A healthy berry and flower farm also helps your beehives, see our Jar of Honey guide.
Rust Fertilizer FAQ
How do you get fertilizer in Rust?
You make fertilizer in a Composter. Put horse dung, food or plant fiber inside and it turns them into fertilizer every 5 minutes. Fertilizer cannot be crafted and is not found in loot.
What gives the most fertilizer in Rust?
Horse dung. Each piece gives 10 fertilizer, while fish give about 0.8, corn and pumpkin 0.3, and berries, potatoes, mushrooms and plant fiber 0.2 each.
How do you use fertilizer in Rust?
Open a planter box and put the fertilizer inside. It raises the planter’s ground condition, one of the four conditions that decide plant health, growth speed and yield. Plants in the ground cannot be fertilized.
How much fertilizer does a plant need in Rust?
About 1 fertilizer per plant each grow cycle keeps ground condition high. That is 9 for a Large Planter Box and 3 for a Small Planter Box.
Can you sell fertilizer in Rust?
Yes. The Produce Exchange vendor at Bandit Camp trades 3 scrap for every 2 fertilizer. Its scrap stock refills slowly, so you sell in batches.
Can you craft or recycle fertilizer in Rust?
No. Fertilizer has no crafting recipe and cannot be recycled. The Composter is the only way to make it.