Monster Hunter: World botanical research: what to cultivate, how research points help your stuff grow
Not your typical permaculture
Resources can be found throughout the wilderness of Monster Hunter: World, but there are some items can be made back in Astera while you're out on a hunt. It's a convenient way to ensure that you can get plenty more of the most valuable ingredients, such as honey to create a large number better healing items. In this guide, we'll be going over how to unlock the Botanical Research centre for your own horticultural use, but also the most useful items to grow/nurture and what to spend your research points on.
Monster Hunter: World botanical research guide
Gathering items and ingredients is a vital part of Monster Hunter: World, so every little way of making crafting new items that little bit easier is always a good thing. However unlocking the research centre requires defeating a rather fearsome early-game monster, so to get up to speed on how best to take on a creature such as this, check out our Monster Hunter World guide so you can take on this creature head on.
If you are looking for specifically Monster Hunter World Iceborne guides, then we have created a separate guide hub for just expansion stuff. Head over to our Monster Hunter World Iceborne guide to make your start.
How do I unlock the Botanical Research centre in Monster Hunter: World?
This facility takes a bit of time to unlock and requires you to have gotten to a certain point in the game. To unlock the ability to do a bit of gardening, you need to have rescued the Chief Botanical Researcher from a perilous situation.
You'll also need to complete his quest to hunt the Tobi-Kadachi. The Tobi-Kadachi is a relatively agile monster that's able to climb trees and can stun, so prepare for stun resistance and thunder resistance respectively. You can find more tips on how to beat this monster in our Monster Hunter: World Tobi-Kadachi guide. These quests are required to be completed to progress the story, so you won't miss them.
Once you've completed that quest, you'll be able to talk to the researcher to unlock the Botanical Research centre. To find him, go to the Tradeyard and head towards the Ecological Research Centre. From there, head east on the mini-map until you find a table with a pile of books and a man in a white coat. This is the man you need to talk to.
Cultivating plants and bugs in Monster Hunter: World
As every keen horticulturalist knows, in order to grow plants you need to sow the seeds and nurture them until they produce flowers, fruit, or whatever ingredients can be extracted from them. How it works in Monster Hunter: World is no real exception, as you'll need to tell the researcher to cultivate a particular crop. The information on screen will let you know not only how much you'll extract once it's ready, but also the time it takes to cultivate, shown in blocks. These blocks equate to one quest.
To give an example, if you want to make more honey to make better healing items with, it will take a minimum of one quest to cultivate of which you will obtain two honey upon completion. These will take a harvest box slot once crafted, so you'll need to visit on occasion to pick up anything made here.
Upgrading the Botanical Research Centre
Your range of items to make is rather limited initially, but you'll get more and more quests whenever someone in the vicinity of the botanical research centre has an exclamation point. This will allow you to unlock better items. As for how many things you can grow at a time, store, and the fertiliser options to hand, the capabilities of the research centre are small to begin with. You can upgrade the cultivating slots by doing certain quests for the botanists and purchasing the upgrades necessary.
| Upgrade | Effect of upgrade | Resource costs | Quests to be completed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvest Box Upgrade | Adds 10 item slots | Two Aqua Sacs 300 RP | To Hold a Harvest Delivery |
| Harvest Box Upgrade | Adds 10 item slots | Torrent Sac 1000 RP | Your Storage Solution Delivery |
| Culture Slot | Adds a single slot to cultivate | N/A | Persistent Pests (Optional quest) |
| Culture Slot | Adds a single slot to cultivate | N/A | Talons of Ire and Ice (Optional quest) |
Fertilising cultivated materials in Monster Hunter: World
Some items take a very long time to make, so you can aid their progress by spending research points to fertilise your chosen cultivation projects. Each fertiliser has a specific effect that lasts a number of quests. Below are the full list of fertilisers, along with their research point cost, effects, and duration.
| Type of Fertiliser | Research Point Cost | Duration of effect | Effect description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fertiliser | 100 RP | Three quests | Increases quantity of plants harvested. |
| Mushroom Substrate | 100 RP | Three quests | Increases quantity of mushrooms harvested. |
| Summoner Jelly | 100 RP | Three quests | Increases quantity of insects/honey harvested. |
| Catalyst | 300 RP | Four quests | Increases overall harvest speed. |
| Mega Fertiliser | 250 RP | Four quests | Greatly increases quantity of plants harvested. |
| Choice Mushroom Substrate | 250 RP | Four quests | Greatly increases quantity of mushrooms harvested. |
| Thick Summoner Jelly | 250 RP | Four quests | Greatly increases quantity of insects/honey harvested. |
| Ancient Catalyst | 500 RP | Four quests | Greatly increases overall harvest speed. |
| Soft Soil | 600 RP | Five quests | Extends the existing effect duration by five. |
Effective use of the Botanical Research Centre can aid players not only looking for resources when starting out, but also in making more of rarer items that are found late game. But eventually you may find that you're lacking in research points. Head over to our Monster Hunter: World ecological research guide to find out how to quickly replenish your research points. Alternatively you can also check out our Monster Hunter: World cooking guide for more on how best to prepare food for the hunt ahead.