Farming in RuneScape 3 is trained mostly through tree runs: you plant the best tree and fruit tree saplings you can, pay the gardeners to protect them, log out, and harvest the experience hours later. Herb runs add profit, and the player-owned farm adds a big weekly chunk of experience once you unlock it. This rs3 farming guide lays out the route from level 1 to the high-level trees, with the patch locations and numbers checked as of November 2026.
We checked the levels, growth times and experience values against the RuneScape Wiki's Farming training and Herb patch pages, and Jagex's November 2026 plugin news post, in November 2026.
How Farming Works: Patches, Protection and Tools
Farming is a timer skill. You plant seeds or saplings in patches around the world, they grow in real time whether you are logged in or not, and you come back to check health and harvest. Most of the experience comes from planting and checking the health of fully grown trees, which is why the fastest training is about planting the highest-value trees as often as their growth times allow, not about standing still and clicking.
Disease is the main risk. The wiki puts the disease chance at about 14 percent with supercompost and about 7 percent with ultracompost. You can also pay a gardener to watch a patch, and a protected tree is cured automatically. The wiki's advice is to compost unprotected patches, since protected trees, bushes and cacti do not need it. The master farmer outfit reduces protection payments, which adds up when you run every patch daily.
- Tool leprechauns store a watering can, buckets and up to 2,000 supercompost or ultracompost, and they can note your produce.
- Magic secateurs give a 10 percent chance to save a harvest life on allotments, hops and herb patches.
- Scroll of life gives a 10 percent chance to get the seed back on allotments and 5 percent on trees.
Tracking several patches at once is easier now too. Jagex's second batch of official plugins, released in November 2026, includes Farming Timer, which tracks your patches and player-owned farm animals with ready times and alerts. The plugin post notes that it needs the game clock visible on the minimap, which you can turn on in the settings menu.
Levels 1 to 30: Getting Off the Ground
The early levels are quick. The wiki's opening method is digging the manure mounds at Manor Farm, north-east of Granny Potterington's house, or at the Anachronia Dinosaur Farm, for about 3,750 experience per hour, and it estimates under 40 minutes to reach level 15. That is not exciting, but it gets you to trees.
Allotments are the other early option. The four main allotment areas are south of Falador, west of Port Phasmatys, north of Catherby and north of Ardougne, each with a gardener and a flower patch beside it. A white lily in the nearby flower patch protects the allotments from disease. Potatoes grow in 40 minutes at level 1, and you work up through onions, cabbages, tomatoes and sweetcorn as you level.
At 15 you can plant oak trees, which take 2 hours 40 minutes, and at 27 apple trees open the fruit tree route. From that point on, trees should be the core of your training, with allotments as an optional extra.
Tree Runs: Where Most of the Experience Comes From
A tree run means visiting each tree and fruit tree patch, paying the gardener, planting a sapling and moving on. When the trees finish growing, you check their health for the big experience drop and replant. The table below shows the trees most players rely on.
| Tree | Level | Growth | XP per sapling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willow | 30 | 4 hours | 1,481.5 |
| Maple | 45 | 5h 20m | 3,448.4 |
| Yew | 60 | 6h 40m | 7,150.9 |
| Palm (fruit) | 68 | 16 hours | 10,509.6 |
| Magic | 75 | 8 hours | 13,913.8 |
| Ciku (fruit) | 101 | 13h 20m | 25,664.1 |
| Guarana (fruit) | 107 | 13h 20m | 32,767.01 |
| Carambola (fruit) | 113 | 13h 20m | 41,254.1 |
Regular tree patches are in Lumbridge, Varrock Palace, Falador Park, Taverley, the Tree Gnome Stronghold and the Trahaearn district of Prifddinas (after Plague's End). Two newer patches are easy to miss: the Woodcutters' Grove at Fort Forinthry, which needs the tier 2 Grove Cabin, and Dalia's Tree Nursery, which needs Visions of Havenhythe. If you have not built up the fort yet, our Fort Forinthry guide explains the Grove Cabin requirements and what else the fort unlocks.
Fruit trees take 16 hours for most types, so many players plant them once a day and run regular trees two or three times. Fruit patches include the Tree Gnome Stronghold, west of the Tree Gnome Village maze, Catherby, north of Brimhaven, Lletya, the Herblore Habitat, the Meilyr district of Prifddinas and Dalia's Tree Nursery. For the top fruit trees, the wiki suggests starting with guarana at 107, since ciku seeds are expensive.
Herb Runs for Profit
Herbs grow faster than trees and are where most of Farming's money comes from. The wiki counts nine herb patches. Five sit alongside allotments: south of Falador, west of Port Phasmatys, north of Catherby, north of Ardougne, and Marigold Farm in Havenhythe. Four are herb-only: the roof of the Troll Stronghold after My Arm's Big Adventure, the Crwys district of Prifddinas, north of the Wilderness Crater, and the Garden of Kharid.
Herbs take 80 minutes to grow at base, which drops with certain upgrades and gear. Two patches have special rules worth knowing: herbs in the Trollheim patch cannot become diseased, and bloodweed can only be grown in the Wilderness patch.
- Ranarr from Farming 32
- Toadflax from 38
- Kwuarm from 56
- Lantadyme from 73
- Dwarf weed from 79
- Torstol from 85
- Fellstalk from 91
Which herb to plant depends on Grand Exchange prices and on whether you will use the herbs yourself. If you train Herblore, growing your own herbs cuts potion costs dramatically, and our RS3 Herblore guide lists which potions each herb feeds into. Players funding membership with gold also lean on herb runs, and our explainer on how bonds work shows what a bond costs in coins and how much membership it buys.
High-Level Trees and Special Patches
Above level 70, Farming opens a set of slow, high-value trees with their own single patches.
- Calquat (72): 21 hours 20 minutes, 12,516.6 experience per sapling, in one patch north of Tai Bwo Wannai.
- Spirit tree (83): 2 days 10 hours 40 minutes, 19,501.3 experience. Seeds are untradeable. You can grow one at 83, two at 86, three at 89 and four at 114.
- Elder tree (90): 2 days 22 hours, 23,463 experience, in the Crwys district of Prifddinas.
- Crystal tree (94): grown from a crystal acorn at the Tower of Voices. Planting gives 50,000 experience and each daily health check gives 15,000.
- Money tree (119): 1 day 18 hours 40 minutes for 61,000 experience per seed.
Prifddinas has a bonus worth timing your runs around. When the Voice of Seren is active in a district, a tree there may skip growth stages and give 20 percent more base experience.
If you prefer active training to timers, the wiki lists a few hands-on options as well. Het's Oasis has rose, iris, hydrangea and hollyhock bushes at levels 30, 50, 70 and 90, for roughly 15,000 to 100,000 experience per hour depending on level. Rumberry bushes in The Arc open at 86 for around 30,000 per hour, and mushroom clusters on the Uncharted Isles open at 94 for about 50,000 per hour. None of these beat a full tree run for experience per minute of attention, but they fill the gaps between runs.
The wiki's upcoming updates page also lists a change that would lower the level to plant snape grass from 80 to 34 as part of a future rebalance, with no date given as of November 2026.
The Player-Owned Farm
Manor Farm, the player-owned farm, unlocks at Farming 17 and Construction 20. You raise animals in pens, check on them and sell or use their produce, and the experience comes in large chunks on a weekly rhythm. The wiki lists the animals and their unlock levels: chickens at 17, sheep at 28, frogs at 35, cows at 42, chinchompas at 49, spiders at 54, yaks at 64, jadinkos at 71, zygomites at 76, dragons at 81 and varanusaurs at 92.
At full efficiency, with dragons, zygomites and chinchompas set up as the wiki describes, the farm can produce around 2,950,000 Farming experience per week, which needs Farming 92 and Construction 60 for the maximum. The Anachronia Dinosaur Farm extends this with high-level animals up to level 117 and beyond, and needs Farming 42 and Construction 45 to expand. Because the farm runs on long timers, it suits players who check in a few times a day, much like Divination suits players who want low-attention sessions; our Divination guide covers that skill if you want something to train between farm checks.
Growing Into It, or Starting Further Along
Farming rewards patience more than any other skill, and an account with high Farming plus the quests for Prifddinas and Havenhythe has far more patches available than a new one. Some players compare their options using the account listings on our RuneScape 3 page, which come from third-party sellers and change from day to day. Bear in mind that Jagex's Terms and Conditions prohibit selling, buying or sharing accounts and real-world trading, and that Jagex keeps all rights to every account.
If you build your own, a daily tree run, a herb run whenever you are online and a player-owned farm ticking in the background will take you a long way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fastest way to level Farming in RS3?
Regular tree and fruit tree runs with the highest saplings you can plant, plus a player-owned farm once you have Farming 17 and Construction 20.
How long do herbs take to grow?
Eighty minutes at base, in four 20-minute cycles. Some upgrades and gear shorten that.
How many herb patches are there in RS3?
The wiki counts nine, including Marigold Farm in Havenhythe and the disease-free Trollheim patch.
Is ultracompost worth it?
On unprotected patches, yes. The wiki puts disease chance at about 7 percent with ultracompost against about 14 percent with supercompost.
What level do you need for magic trees?
Level 75 Farming. A magic tree takes 8 hours and gives 13,913.8 experience per sapling.
Is there a farming timer in RuneScape 3?
Yes. Farming Timer is one of the official plugins in Jagex's second batch, released in November 2026, and it tracks patches and player-owned farm animals.