What Are Apricorns and Why Automate Them?
If you have spent any time in Pixelmon modpacks, you already know that Apricorns are essential for crafting all kinds of Poké Balls. These colorful fruits drop from Apricorn trees scattered across the world, and collecting them by hand quickly becomes a chore. While many mods offer tree farming solutions, Apricorn trees present a unique challenge: they are not standard vanilla crops, and most automated farming systems from mods like EnderIO, Actually Additions, or Industrial Foregoing simply ignore them. That is where the Apricorn Automation mod steps in, transforming Apricorns into a plantable, harvestable crop that plays nicely with your favorite tech mods.
How Apricorn Automation Changes the Game
This lightweight addon bridges the gap between Pixelmon’s natural world and your high-tech farming setups. Instead of relying on manual tree shaking or slow passive collection, you can now grow Apricorns directly on tilled soil just like wheat or potatoes. The mod introduces a new seed item crafted from a regular wheat seed and any color of Apricorn. Once planted, the crop matures through several growth stages, accepts bonemeal for instant growth, and drops multiple Apricorns of the original color when harvested. The result is a fully automatable Apricorn production line that integrates seamlessly with machines from EnderIO, Actually Additions, Thermal Expansion, and other popular farming mods.
Crafting the Apricorn Seeds
Getting started is incredibly simple. The recipe requires only two ingredients: one vanilla wheat seed and one Apricorn of your chosen color. Place them together in any crafting grid, and you will receive a single Apricorn seed matching that Apricorn’s type. There is no expensive infrastructure or rare materials needed. This means you can begin automating your Poké Ball production very early in the game, right after you find your first few Apricorn trees.
Planting and Growing Mechanics
Apricorn seeds behave almost identically to vanilla crops. Till a block of dirt or grass with a hoe, plant the seed, and wait for it to grow. You can speed things up with bonemeal, which advances the growth stage by one step per use. Once fully mature, the plant can be harvested by right-clicking or by a mechanical harvester. Each harvest yields between one and three Apricorns of the original color, and the plant does not revert to a seedling — it stays at its final growth stage, allowing repeated harvesting without replanting. This persistent crop behavior is exactly what automated farmers expect.
Compatibility with Popular Farming Mods
The true power of Apricorn Automation lies in its compatibility layer. The mod registers its crops in a way that most tech mods recognize them as standard plantable items. Here are a few examples of how you can integrate it into existing setups:
- EnderIO Farming Station: Insert the Apricorn seeds into the seed slot, provide power, water, and a hoe, and the station will plant, harvest, and collect Apricorns automatically.
- Actually Additions Farmer: This machine treats the Apricorn crop like any other, harvesting mature plants in a 9x9 area and storing the drops in an adjacent inventory.
- Industrial Foregoing Plant Gatherer: Set the working area, supply sludge or power, and the gatherer will harvest fully grown Apricorn crops without uprooting them.
- Thermal Expansion Phytogenic Insolator: While not a field farmer, this machine can also process Apricorn seeds with phyto-gro to produce additional Apricorns in a compact setup.
Beyond these, any mod that uses the standard Forge crop system should work out of the box. This flexibility means you can stick with your preferred tech mod and still enjoy automated Apricorn farming without extra hassle.
Why Bonemeal Support Matters
Many automated farmers include an internal bonemeal or fertilizer feature to accelerate growth. Since Apricorn Automation crops accept bonemeal, you can hook up a fertilizer supply to your farming machine and dramatically increase output. In a typical EnderIO Farming Station, for example, adding a capacitor and a steady stream of bonemeal can triple the production rate compared to passive growth. This turns a modest Apricorn field into an industrial-scale supply chain capable of supporting massive Poké Ball crafting lines.
Installation and Setup Tips
Adding the mod to your game is straightforward. You need to place the Apricorn Automation jar file into your mods folder alongside Pixelmon and any required dependencies. If you prefer a more streamlined experience, you can easily install this mod via the foxygame.net launcher — a convenient, flexible, and modern Minecraft launcher where you can download mods right from the menu, manage entire modpacks, and keep everything up to date with just a few clicks. Once installed, the new seed recipes appear automatically, and no additional configuration is needed unless you want to tweak growth rates or drop amounts in the config file.
Optimizing Your Apricorn Farm Layout
A well-designed farm can supply every Apricorn color in bulk. Because each seed retains its color, you can plant separate fields for red, blue, yellow, black, white, and pink Apricorns. Many players use a grid of 9x9 plots with a single farming machine in the center, covering all colors at once. Alternatively, you can create a single large field with mixed colors and sort the output afterward using item filters. The choice depends on your base layout and how you handle Poké Ball crafting. Some advanced setups even combine Apricorn farms with automatic crafting tables to produce specific balls on demand.
Potential Challenges and Solutions
While the mod is robust, there are a few things to watch out for. First, Apricorn seeds are not obtainable from breaking grass; you must craft them manually. This means you need at least one Apricorn of each color to start your farm. Second, if you use a harvester that tills the soil, make sure it is configured to replant — most machines do this by default, but double-checking avoids empty farmland. Finally, on servers, ensure that the mod is installed both client-side and server-side, or the custom crops will not render properly for players.
Conclusion
Apricorn Automation solves a long-standing frustration for Pixelmon players who love automation. By turning Apricorns into a standard crop, it unlocks the full potential of tech mod farming without breaking the balance of the game. The simple seed crafting recipe, bonemeal compatibility, and seamless integration with EnderIO, Actually Additions, and others make it a must-have for any modded Pixelmon world. Whether you are building a modest garden or a fully automated factory, this mod ensures you never run out of Apricorns again. Install it, set up your machines, and watch your Poké Ball production soar.