Everything you need to know about sprinklers in Stardew Valley

Steven Rondina Published 31/08/2021

Time management is the name of the game in Stardew Valley, with players needing to juggle fishing, mining, farming, crafting, foraging, and relationships with NPCs. There aren’t really any shortcuts to manage all of this, but the closest players can get to one may be sprinklers.

Sprinklers streamline the farming process and make it much less time-intensive. Instead of watering being an everyday hassle, sprinklers can make it so farming only really requires planting seeds, fertilizing, and harvesting. Sprinklers are a vital tool for getting everything done in the game within a more reasonable timeframe, but as with most of Stardew Valley, players are left to figure out how to make use of these tools on their own.

Here’s how to get all of Stardew Valley’s different sprinklers and how to make the most of them.

What is the best way to use a Stardew Valley sprinkler?

The best way to use sprinklers in Stardew Valley is to arrange crops around them. Quality Sprinklers will water the eight surrounding tiles in a 3×3 area, while Iridium Sprinklers will water 24 tiles in a 5×5 area. After acquiring the resources to craft a number of sprinklers, players should plot their crops in anticipation of no longer bothering with their watering can and exclusively using sprinklers to water their crops.

Basic sprinklers should be ignored as the resources used to craft them would be better spent on other items. Quality Sprinklers and Iridium Sprinklers are much more useful. Here’s the recipe for each type of sprinkler:

Sprinkler: one copper bar, one iron bar
Quality Sprinkler: one iron bar, one gold bar, one refined quartz
Iridium Sprinkler: one Iridium bar, one gold bar, one battery pack

How to get Stardew Valley sprinkler upgrades

There are two different types of sprinkler upgrades in Stardew Valley, both of which can be purchased from Mr. Qi on Ginger Island. Qi can be found on Ginger Island after obtaining 100 Golden Walnuts. Ginger Island can be reached after completing all community center bundles. There are two types of sprinkler upgrades: the Pressure Nozzle and the Enricher.

The Pressure Nozzle effectively upgrades sprinklers to the next level. A basic sprinkler functionally becomes a Quality Sprinkler, and a Quality Sprinkler becomes an Iridium Sprinkler. Iridium Sprinklers are improved to cover a 7×7 area.

An Enricher can be loaded with fertilizers to automatically apply the fertilizer to the sprinkler’s AOE. Only one upgrade can be applied to a sprinkler at a time, and players will generally get more value out of the Pressure Nozzle than the Enricher.

How do you get high-quality sprinklers in Stardew Valley?

Quality Sprinklers and Iridium Sprinklers can be crafted by the player using metal bars and other items. They can also be purchased under certain conditions.

Quality Sprinklers can be purchased from the traveling cart in the woods for a price ranging between 1,300g and 2,250g. They are stocked randomly, so players won’t necessarily be able to plan around getting them. Iridium Sprinklers can be purchased once each week from Krobus for 10,000g, but only on Fridays.

In Stardew Valley Expanded, players can purchase basic sprinklers and Quality Sprinklers from the ledger in Sophia’s house for 600g and 4,000g respectively at any time. This is not particularly cost effective, but is a decent option for players who are in need.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

View full profile