Understand the "Outside optimal period" warning
Open the Game PlanA yellow message tells you a planting is set outside the weeks where the crop does well on your farm. Here is what it means for your harvest date, and what you can do.
Know when it appears
With Use climate-adjusted DTM on, the message This planting is outside its optimal growing period appears when the field planting date falls outside the crop’s Optimal Growing Period: the weeks where, in your climate, a planting reaches maturity without too much cold, heat or frost on the way.
Know what Heirloom does with the date
Outside those weeks, Heirloom does not stretch the curve to an unrealistic number. It uses the days to maturity of the nearest good week. Read the first harvest date as the earliest you can hope for: out of season, the crop will likely take longer.
Read the succession version
In a succession, the message gives the date from which the days to maturity of the succession plantings have been capped: from that date on, the plantings fall outside the good weeks. Those last plantings are the ones to question.
Choose what to do
Move the field planting date back into the good weeks: the crop’s curve shows them in green. Give the planting some protection, such as a tunnel, and keep an eye on it. Or keep the date knowingly, for an early or late crop you are ready to gamble on.
The greenhouse message
For a planting in a greenhouse, another message warns that the prediction may not be accurate: the curve is built from outdoor weather, and your greenhouse is warmer. There, trust your own days to maturity more than the curve.
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