Greenhaus

The game

A season in the greenhouse

Buy a pot, fill it with soil, and sow a seed. Water it, tie it in, keep the greenhouse in the right band of heat, light and humidity, and deal with whatever turns up. Then pick the fruit, sell it or fill an order, and keep the seeds from the best of it.

Every seed carries its parents' traits, and the plant grows into what it inherited. Choose well and each generation improves on the last.

Pot

The pot matters

Each place on the bench takes one pot. Terracotta breathes and dries fast, slate holds the cold off the roots, and the soil inside can be a ready mix or a blend of your own.

Grow

Keep it alive

Water, tie in, and run the heater, vents and grow lamps to keep the climate where the plants want it. Pests follow the climate: mites come with hot, dry air and mould with damp, still air, so a well-run greenhouse sees far fewer of them.

Breed

Breeding

Save seed from your best fruit and sow the next generation. Sweetness, vigour, size and colour pass down, and a research lab reads back the traits you cannot see by eye.

Seasons

Grow in season

Every crop has its season. The planting calendar shows what thrives right now. Heating the greenhouse lets you grow a crop before and after its season, but you pay for the fuel.

Sell

Orders and the county show

Sell fruit loose, or deliver against orders for several times as much. Each season, the county show names a crop and a rival to beat, and your best entry is judged on flavour and size.