OSRS Ironman Farming Training Guide

You ever stare at those empty patches in Catherby and think, man, this is gonna be a slog? Yeah, me too. As a guy whos sunk over 4,000 hours into OSRS on my main ironman account, farming hit me like a brick wall at first. No GE to snag seeds, just you, some dirt, and a whole lot of waiting. But trust me, once you crack it, farming becomes this beautiful passive beast that feeds your herblore and slayer like nothing else. Ive got a maxed iron with 99 farming from scratch, and Ill walk you through my exact path. Well cover everything from scraping those first seeds to running a full herb empire. Ready to turn those weeds into wins?

Lets get real for a second. In regular accounts, farming is kinda optional, right? You buy seeds, plant, profit. But as an ironman, its your lifeline. Herbs mean potions for bossing, trees give you that steady XP drip while you sleep, and dont get me started on how ranarr seeds saved my butt during zulrah grinds. I remember my first 70 farming, staring at a bank full of half-baked potions because I couldnt keep up with herblore demands. Farming fixed that. It turns you self-sufficient, cuts out the begging for drops, and honestly, its therapeutic watching stuff grow.

But heres a question: whats the biggest roadblock? Seeds. Without them, youre just watering cans and dreams. Ill hit that hard in a bit. For now, know this: aim for 99, but milestones like 65 and 85 unlock game-changers. And yeah, its passive, but smart irons treat it like a daily ritual. My routine? Herb run every 80 minutes, tree check twice a day. Boom, 99 sneaks up on you.

Starting from Scratch – Levels 1 to 30 on a Shoestring

Okay, picture this: youre fresh off tutorial island, ironman tag glowing like a curse. Farming at 1? Forget about it. Straight to quests, friend. Theyre your cheat code. I blasted through Goblin Generals for a quick 1,000 XP, then hit Fairytale I – Growing Pains. That one alone bumped me to 15, and the fairy rings? Gold for teleports later.

Why quests first? They skip the potato seed hell. Plant a few basics if you must, but honestly, I did like three runs of onions before questing ate my levels. At level 9, guams unlock, but hold off. Quests like Forgettable Tale and Garden of Death push you to 20 fast. By 25, with Enlightened Journey, youre ballooning around, feeling fancy.

Personal tip from my grind: grab a seed dibber and spade early. I lost hours hunting tools once. And compost? Make it from weeds you pull. Supercompost at level 1 gives 8.5 XP per bucket. Slow, but free. I filled bins while questing, turned my failures into fertilizer. Short answer: quests get you to 30 in under 10 hours. No joke.

Hunting Seeds – The Ironmans Real MVP Skill

Seeds. Oh man, seeds. This is where irons weep or warrior up. No grand exchange, so youre pickpocketing, slaying, or begging RNG. I started at 38 thieving, targeting Master Farmers in Draynor. Wear the rogues outfit if you can snag it early; doubles your haul. Expect ranarrs, snaps, maybe a toadflax if the stars align. I got my first snap at level 50 thieving, danced like an idiot in game.

Slayer? Nechryaels and dagannoths are seed machines mid-game. On task, they drop everything from guams to torstols. I farmed 200+ herb seeds per 10 tasks once. Bosses like zulrah or lizardmen shamans cough up tree seeds too. Wintertodt? Do it for firemaking, but those crates? Tree seed heaven. Set your bars to wood and hardwood for nests packed with magic and yews.

Farming contracts at 45? Easy tier sucks, but at 65 medium? Chef’s kiss. Guild access, better rewards. I did 20 contracts a week, stocked my bank with irits and avantoes. Hespori at 65? Plant those seeds from contracts, kill the boss for XP and that bottomless compost bucket. Game-changer for ultracompost.

Bird houses on Fossil Island? Bone Voyage quest first, then trap for nests. More seeds, passive hunter XP. I ran them daily, turned nests into a seed vault. Question: how many methods you layering? I did three at once – thieving, slayer, contracts. Built a 500-seed stockpile by 70 farming.

Heres a quick table on my go-to seed sources. Kept it simple, based on what worked for me.

Stack these, and youre never dry. I was drowning in limpwurts by 80.

Your First Runs – Allotments and Herbs Without the Headache

Alright, levels 30ish, seeds trickling in. Time to plant. Start with allotments: Catherby, Falador, Hosidius. Tele there with skills necklace. Plant potatoes to 8, then guams. But protect them! Nasturtiums at 24 farming guard against disease. I skipped that once, lost half my patch to blight. Rookie move.

Herb runs? At 32, ranarrs if you lucked into seeds. But guams and marrentills first. Use ultracompost – volcanic ash on supercompost in the guild bin. Boosts yield 20%. Magic secateurs from quest? 10% more herbs. I got mine early, never looked back.

Route: Hit three herbs, then allotments. Watermelons at 47? Slam them with nasturtiums. Snape grass at 61, white lilies protect. Pay farmers with easy stuff – marigolds for allotments. I paid with cabbages once; cheap and everywhere.

Short para: Compost is king. Make it, use it, love it.

Longer story: My first full herb run at 45? I had like five ranarr seeds from a lucky master farmer knock. Planted in Trollheim (quest unlock), protected with white berries later. Came back to 30+ grimy ranarrs. Sold none, but herblore exploded. That run hooked me. Do it every cycle – 80 minutes, 50k XP if youre efficient.

Tithe Farm – The XP Cannon You Cant Ignore

Tithe Farm. Love it or hate it, irons need it. Level 34 farming, Hosidius favor first. Grind that to 100% with plowing fields if youre low. Then, plant bologas, water like mad, harvest before they die. Sounds miserable? It is at first. But 90k XP/hour at 74? Insane.

I did 200 points a day early on, got the seed box reward. Holds 40-ish seeds, notes them at leprechauns. Farmers outfit boosts yield too. For irons, its not just XP – grapes for wines, herbs for herblore. I hit 65 farming in a week of tithe, unlocked contracts. Worth the thumb blisters.

Question: Hate the clicking? Use 1-tick methods once geared. I did, turned it AFK-ish. Short answer: Yes, do tithe to 65.

Tree Runs – Passive Power for Busy Irons

Trees. The heart of farming. Fruit trees at 15, but wait for oaks at 15 properly. No, start small: plant saplings in pots. Clean seeds, pot them, water, wait. Tedious? Humidify spell at 68 magic speeds it. I quested hard for that.

Standard run: 6 fruit trees (palm at 68), 6 regular (magic at 75), hardwood (teak at 35), calquat at 72, celastrus at 77. Check health for XP, pay to chop, replant. 200k+ XP per full run, twice daily.

Iron twist: Seeds from contracts or wintertodt. I grew my first magic from a crate drop, felt like a boss. Costs? Coconuts for protection on fruits. Harvest them for secondaries too.

Table time: My tree progression. XP totals per plant, based on my logs.

Do this right, and farming XP flows while you boss. I checked trees between vorkath kills. Efficient? You bet.

Mid-Game Mastery – Level 50 to 80 and Beyond

Hitting 50? Watermelons in allotments, irit herbs. But layer in hesport at 65. That boss drops seed packs, more contracts. I farmed hesport weekly, got the bottomless bucket. Ultracompost on tap, no more bin babysitting.

Slayer integration: Kurasks drop ranarrs like candy. Pair with herb runs. At 70, torstols. My bank overflowed, herblore hit 80 easy.

Question: Struggling with space? Use tool leprechauns to note harvests. Saved my sanity.

Long para on a fail: Once at 62, I planted snaps without ultracompost. Half died, lost 20 seeds. Lesson? Always compost. Now I make 1,000 buckets a week from kelp via prifddinas patch. Seaweed spores from fossil island, plant, harvest infinite. Pair with buckets of sand for crafting XP too.

High-Level Hustle – 80 to 99 and Max Cape Dreams

80+? Dwarf weeds, lantadymes. But focus ranarr, snaps, torstols. Yield with secateurs and lilies? Six-plus per patch. I ran eight herbs, snapes, limps. 100k XP per run.

Tree wise, redwoods at 90. 22k XP each, logs for construction. Celastrus for tickets, bagging trees for POH XP.

Contracts hard at 85? Do em. Rare seeds flow. I finished 99 with a mix: daily trees, herb runs, tithe bursts for 100k/hour.

Personal win: Hit 99 during a slayer binge. Checked patches between tasks, sipped coffee. Felt earned.

Short para: 99 takes 150m XP total. Pace yourself.

Gearing Up – Tools and Tricks for Efficiency

Essentials: Spade, secateurs (magic ones), seed box from tithe. Leprechaun access everywhere. Amulet of nature for color-coded growth checks. I tele with fairy rings post-quest.

Compost: Ultrafarm. Kelp method scales infinite.

POH: Bagged plants for quick XP if construction high.

Question: Got quests done? Fairy rings save hours.

Common Pitfalls – And How I Dodged Them

Dying trees? Ultracompost and protection. I lost a magic once, cried pixels.

Seed drought? Diversify sources. Thieving saved me thrice.

Forgetting runs? Timers. I set alarms, never missed.

Iron only: No buying out. Grow your own payments – berries from monsters.

Wrapping It Up – Your Farm, Your Legacy

Farming as an iron? Its grindy, rewarding, alive. From quest noob to 99 lord, its about patience and stacks. I look at my maxed bank now, herbs flowing, and smile. You got this. Whats your first seed hunt? Drop it in comments. Keep grinding, Gielinor.