How To Make Herbal Medicine in Rimworld

Herbal medicine is one of the earliest medicines you can craft in Rimworld, and the process is surprisingly straightforward. This guide will walk you through growing heelroot and converting it into herbal medicine for your colony’s medical needs.

Getting Started with Heelroot

The foundation of herbal medicine production is growing heelroot. You have two primary methods to cultivate this essential plant:

Method 1: Hydroponics with Sun Lamps

If you’re far enough into the game, set up hydroponics basins with sun lamps. This method allows heelroot to grow automatically without depending on outdoor conditions or seasons. Hydroponics are a reliable, controlled way to maintain consistent heelroot production.

Method 2: Farming Zones

Alternatively, designate standard farming zones where heelroot can grow outdoors. To create a farming zone, access your zoning menu and select “growing zone.” Once placed, you can choose which plant to grow. For heelroot specifically, your colonists will need a growing skill of 8 minimum to plant and cultivate it successfully.

Make sure your colonists are assigned to growing and plant cutting tasks—they will automatically come and start planting heelroot in the designated zones as long as they meet the skill requirement.

Harvesting and Automatic Conversion

Once your heelroot is fully grown, simply harvest it. Here’s the best part: heelroot requires no further processing. When your colonists harvest the fully grown heelroot, it automatically converts into herbal medicine.

Keep in mind that herbal medicine will spoil if left unfrigerated after a few years, so ensure you’re using your supply regularly or store it in a cooled area.

Setting Up a Medical Bay Stockpile

For optimal efficiency, create a dedicated medical stockpile near your medical facilities. This prevents your surgeons and doctors from having to walk long distances to retrieve medicine during emergencies.

How to Configure Your Medical Stockpile

Create a small stockpile zone and name it “Medical Bay” for easy identification.

Access the storage settings and navigate to the storage configuration menu. Disallow all items first, then open the “Manufactured” category and tick “medicine.” Finally, set the priority to “critical.”

This configuration ensures your medical personnel can access herbal medicine instantly without lengthy walks across your base, making emergency treatment much faster and more effective.

Summary

Making herbal medicine in Rimworld is one of the simplest medical production processes available. Simply grow heelroot using either hydroponics or farming zones, harvest it when ready, and watch it automatically convert into herbal medicine. Set up a convenient, high-priority medical stockpile nearby, and your colony will have reliable medicine production from the earliest stages of gameplay.

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