What follows covers best full sun plants in the order you would actually need it, rather than the order it appears in the game.
Two answers to best full sun plants circulate online, and both were correct at some point. Where two methods both work, prefer the one with fewer places to go wrong.
The short answer
Do the straightforward version first; it solves this for most people, and the detailed section exists for when it does not.
When to stop optimising
Anything marked optional really is optional, so skip it without guilt. Most pages on best full sun plants either assume too much or explain too little. If the explanation feels overcomplicated, it probably is — the working version is usually short.
People often blame the game when the actual cause is a setting they changed weeks ago. Understanding the reason behind a step lets you adapt it when your situation differs. The step people skip is almost always the one that makes the rest reliable.
- Try it once without shortcuts to see the full behaviour.
- Change one thing at a time and check the result.
- Check the known-issues list first.
- Keep a spare loadout for the attempts that go badly.
- Take a screenshot of settings before changing them.
How to check it worked
A change that works but that you cannot repeat has not really solved anything. Consistency beats optimisation until you are comfortable, and often after that too. Interfaces move between versions; the underlying logic almost never does. The result is consistent once the inputs are, which is less obvious than it sounds.
If your situation is slightly different
There is a point where further refinement stops being worth the time, and it arrives early. If a step feels pointless, it is usually there to prevent a failure you have not hit yet. The complicated explanation and the simple one usually describe the same thing at different zoom levels. Anything described as a known issue is worth checking before assuming the fault is yours.
The step people skip in best full sun plants is the one that makes everything after it reliable. The simplest explanation that accounts for what you are seeing is usually the correct one.
Doing it faster once you know the method
Doing this properly once is faster than doing it approximately three times. A result that works but that you cannot explain will not survive the next change. Where opinions differ, the disagreement is normally about priorities rather than facts.
Anything presented as a hidden trick for best full sun plants is normally a step a popular guide left out. A method that works for everyone is usually slower than one tuned to your situation, and worth it anyway. There is no hidden trick being withheld here; the method is simply less exciting than a shortcut would be.
- Do the boring preparation step, even when it looks skippable.
- Keep the original settings somewhere you can restore them from.
- Confirm the starting conditions before following any steps.
- Write down what worked, in case you need it again later.
- Note your version number before starting.
- Turn off anything that could interrupt you partway through.
Things that waste the most time
- Assuming a step took effect without checking.
- Optimising the easy part while ignoring the step that actually costs time.
- Following the detailed method when the simple one would have done.
Quick answers
Why do two sources say different things?
Almost always because they are describing different versions, or because one of them repeated an assumption without testing it.
Is there any risk to my save?
Not from the steps above. Backing up first is still sensible if the game makes it easy, purely because it costs nothing.
Why do other guides say something different?
Most of them describe an earlier version, and a few describe a method that worked once and was never re-tested.
If you take one thing away about best full sun plants, make it the preparation step; everything after it becomes much easier.