Sleet Wheat
Sleet Wheat is a cold dwelling plant found in the Frozen Biome; it produces Sleet Wheat Grain. Sleet Wheat Grain is both a food item and the seed for planting more Sleet Wheat. Sleet Wheat is very slow to mature, at 18 cycles, and combined with the temperature requirements, the colony needs to have a well established infrastructure before it can be effectively farmed.
Sleet Wheat Grain is needed to make Frost Buns (and thus Frost Burgers), Pepper Bread, Soufflé Pancakes, and Berry Sludge.
In most recipes, each Sleet Wheat grain is worth 400 kcal when prepared.
The plant is notable for its unusual seed mechanics: Sleet Wheat Grain is both the product and the seed.
Food
It produces 18 Sleet Wheat Grains per harvest which can be processed into Frost Bun and Soufflé Pancakes at an Electric Grill, Pepper Bread at a Gas Range, or Berry Sludge at a Microbe Musher.
Frost Bun provides 1200 kcals and requires 3 Sleet Wheat Grains.
- (1200 kcals / 3 Sleet Wheat Grains) * (18 Sleet Wheat Grains / 18 cycles) / 1 plant = 400 kcals / cycle / plant
- A Duplicant requires ~1000 kcals per cycle. So you need 1000/400 = 2.5 plants per dupe.
Soufflé Pancakes provide 3600 kcals and requires 2 Sleet Wheat Grains and 1600 kcal of Raw Egg. The Raw Egg is given the same value as an Omelette in this calculation, of 2800 kcal. That, plus the standard amount of calories in 2 Sleet Wheat Grains (400 per grain x 2 grains = 800), gives us 3600.
- (800 kcals / 2 Sleet Wheat Grains) * (18 Sleet Wheat Grains / 18 Cycles) / 1 plant = 400 kcals / cycle / plant
- With 1 plant at 400 kcals, you need 0.56 plants per dupe.
- You would also need 444 kcal per dupe of Raw Egg.
Berry Sludge provides 4000 kcals and requires 5 Sleet Wheat Grains. It improves food quality to Good(+3) with additional requirement of Bristle Blossom to be planted. Since 1600kcal (1 berry) of Bristle Berry is required, it's net caloric gain is 2400kcal
- (2400 kcals / 5 Sleet Wheat Grains) * (18 Sleet Wheat Grains / 18 cycles) / 1 plant = 480 kcals / cycle / plant
- 1 Bristle Berry / 6 cycles * 6 plants and 18 Sleet Wheat Grains / 18 cycles * 5 plants allows for the production of 18 berry sludge per 18 cycles.
So you need 1000 (kcals / dupe) / 800 (Berry Sludge kcal / 5 Sleet Wheat plants) = 1.25 plants per dupe. Since Bristle Berry is also necessary at a 6:5 ratio, you will also need 1.25*1.2 = 1.5 Bristle Berry plants per dupe. It is worth mentioning that this entire process is fairly power intensive.
Pepper Bread provides 4000 kcals and requires 10 Sleet Wheat Grains. It improves food quality to Superb(+5) with additional requirement of Pincha Pepper to be planted.
- (4000 kcals / 10 Sleet Wheat Grains) * (18 Sleet Wheat Grains / 18 cycles) / 1 plant = 400 kcals / cycle / plant
- So you need 1000/400 = 2.5 plants per dupe.
Frost Burger provides 6000 kcals and requires 1200 kcals of Frost Bun. It improves food quality to Ambrosial(+6) with additional requirement of Waterweed to be planted.
- (6000 kcals / 3 Sleet Wheat Grains) * (18 Sleet Wheat Grains / 18 cycles) / 1 plant = 2000 kcals / cycle / plant
- So you need 1000/2000 = 0.5 plants per dupe.
| Food Item | Quality | Calories | Grain Needed | Other Ingredients (Opportunity Cost) |
Net Calories | Net Calories/Grain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
+2 | 1200 kcal | 3 | 1200 kcal | 400 kcal | |
|
+3 | 4000 kcal | 5 | 1600 kcal Bristle Berry (2000 kcal Gristle Berry) |
2400 kcal (2000 kcal) |
480 kcal (400 kcal) |
|
+5 | 4000 kcal | 10 | 1kg Pincha Peppernut (+400kcal/nut in Spicy Tofu) |
4000 kcal (3600 kcal) |
400 kcal (360 kcal) |
|
+6 | 6000 kcal | 3 (Frost Bun) | 4000 kcal Barbeque 400 kcal Lettuce |
1600 kcal | 533.3 kcal |
 
|
+5 | 4200 kcal | 3 | 1000 kcal Grubfruit 2000 kcal Gristle Berry |
1200 kcal | 400 kcal |
Growth
A Sleet Wheat requires temperature range of -55 °C ↔ 5 °C, and air pressure of 150 g ↔ 10 kg. It requires atmosphere of Oxygen, Polluted Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide.
Wild
A wild Sleet Wheat takes 72 cycles to grow.
Domestic
It can be planted in a Planter Box, a Farm Tile or a Hydroponic Farm.
It requires 5 kg/cycle Dirt and 20 kg/cycle Water.
A domestic Sleet Wheat takes 18 cycles to grow.
Spoilage
Sleet Wheat Grain will spoil in Oxygen or Polluted Oxygen. Although Sleet Wheat grows just fine in Oxygen or Polluted Oxygen, when it matures and drops its Sleet Wheat Grain, it will start to spoil if not picked up. Therefore, in the early game, it is advised to ensure that any wild sleet wheat is covered in carbon dioxide to avoid spoilage.
Decor
A Sleet Wheat has a decor value of 15 with 2 tiles radius.
Mutations
Calorie amount in this table is for the assumption that all 18 sleet wheat grains of a harvest are put into Frost Buns.
| Variant | Production (kcal) |
other | Radiation Range | Life cycle | Temperature range | kcal/cycle | Irrigation kg  Water
|
kcal/kg | Irrigation kg  Dirt
|
kcal/kg | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| harvest | drop | harvest | drop | harvest | drop | ||||||||
| Original Domesticated | 7200 | 0 ↔ 12200 | 7.5 | 60K (-55°C ↔ 5°C) |
960.00 | 626.09 | 20 | 48.00 | 31.30 | 5 | 192.00 | 125.22 | |
| Original Wild | 7200 | 0 ↔ 12200 | 30 | 60K (-55°C ↔ 5°C) |
240.00 | 211.76 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - | |
| Blooming | 7200 | 250 ↔ 12200 | 7.5 | 60K (-55°C ↔ 5°C) |
960.00 | 626.09 | 20 | 48.00 | 31.30 | 5 | 192.00 | 125.22 | |
| Bountiful | 14400 | requires 200 Lux, 400% Harvest Duration | 250 ↔ 12200 | 7.5 | 60K (-55°C ↔ 5°C) |
1920.00 | 1252.17 | 24 | 80.00 | 52.17 | 6 | 320.00 | 208.70 |
| Easygoing | 5400 | 250 ↔ 12200 | 7.5 | 60K (-55°C ↔ 5°C) |
720.00 | 469.57 | 10 | 72.00 | 46.96 | 2.5 | 288.00 | 187.83 | |
| Exuberant | 10800 | requires Darkness 10000 Food Poisoning on crop |
250 ↔ 12200 | 1.875 | 60K (-55°C ↔ 5°C) |
5760.00 | 1838.30 | 30 | 192.00 | 61.28 | 7.5 | 768.00 | 245.11 |
| Juicyfruit | 7200 | drops on floor upon ripening | 250 ↔ 12200 | 7.5 | 60K (-55°C ↔ 5°C) |
960.00 | 960.00 | 25 | 38.40 | 38.40 | 6.25 | 153.60 | 153.60 |
| Leafy | 7200 | requires 1000 Lux | 250 ↔ 12200 | 3.75 | 60K (-55°C ↔ 5°C) |
1920.00 | 929.03 | 25 | 76.80 | 37.16 | 6.25 | 307.20 | 148.65 |
| Licey | 7800 (7200 Frost Bun + 600 Meal Lice) |
250 ↔ 12200 | 7.5 | 60K (-55°C ↔ 5°C) |
1040.00 | 678.26 | 25 | 41.60 | 27.13 | 6.25 | 166.40 | 108.52 | |
| Specialized | 10800 | 250 ↔ 12200 | 7.5 | 30K (-40°C ↔ -10°C) |
1440.00 | 939.13 | 20 | 72.00 | 46.96 | 5 | 288.00 | 187.83 | |
| Superspecialized | 14400 | 250 ↔ 12200 | 7.5 | 12K (-31°C ↔ -19°C) |
1920.00 | 1252.17 | 20 | 96.00 | 62.61 | 5 | 384.00 | 250.43 | |
| Wildish | 7200 | 250 ↔ 12200 | 33.75 | 60K (-55°C ↔ 5°C) |
213.33 | 190.73 | 2 | 106.67 | 95.36 | 0.5 | 426.67 | 381.46 | |
Tips
- Since Berry Sludge is extremely useful for rocket trips (it doesn't spoil), and Sleet Wheat is difficult to farm in the early game, it is strongly advised to keep and harvest any wild sleet wheat found on the starting asteroid.
- For beginners, it is recommended to plant Sleet Wheat in Planter Boxes or Farm Tiles rather than Hydroponic Farms as the pumped water can turn into ice and damage pipes if below -0.6 °C or warm up the farm above growth threshold. Whilst hydroponic farms require less maintenance, players should first practice how to cool water to a specific temperature to prevent pipe breakages (e.g. thermal sensors deactivating Wheezewort built on doors).
- If warm water is used for irrigation the air surrounding the Sleet Wheat needs to be constantly cooled. This can be achieved using Wheezewort.
- Liquid Valves, when set slightly below Sleet Wheat's consumption rate, can be used to minimize the amount of water idly sitting in the pipes. Each 3 Sleet Wheat tiles require 100 grams of water per second. (Care should be taken with this setup to maintain the growth rate and evenly distribute water without stumbling over internal buffers.)
- Sleet Wheat farms are inherently resistant to spoilage and Food Poisoning, since they require such cold temperatures.
- Using a Fertilizer Synthesizer and Farm Station increases the overall dirt efficiency of the farm, although it requires the addition of Phosphorite.
- The used Dirt temperatures affects the plants. To avoid heating up, store them inside a Storage Bin submerged in cold Polluted Water or similar.
- If Frost Bun is seen as the base line amount of Calories, 1200 / 3, then each Sleet Wheat Grain provides 400 kcals.
- This means that the net caloric gain of Berry Sludge and Frost Burger is +400 kcals. Pepper Bread is +0 kcals.
- Sleet Wheat with Frost Bun provide a baseline 400 Calories per day, if the plants drop instead of being harvested it decreases to 327.
- Pepper Bread does not increase the effective kcal, meaning it remains 400 and 327 respectively.
- Overall, the Sleet Wheat Farm should be either well insulated using Insulated Tiles or placed in a Frozen Biome.