The Ancient Fruit is one of the rarest items in Stardew Valley. While it's not particularly difficult (not much in Stardew Valley), you need to have a lot of patience, as there's no rushing this. Here are the best ways to get the Ancient Fruit!
How to Get Ancient Fruits in Stardew Valley
Currently, there are two ways to get Ancient Fruit in Stardew Valley, and both can take a long time:
Before we begin, it's important to mention that none of these paths are best. One is easier, but the other is probably faster and may require more effort. Getting the Ancient Fruit is easy, but be prepared for a long wait!
Step One: Get the Seed Packet
Option A: The museum
Getting Gunther's Seeds takes more effort than just buying them from the Traveling Merchant, but if you're looking to fill your museum with artifacts, or don't want to wait for the Merchant to appear during his in-game days (Friday and Sunday), then you better grab your Hoe tool and wander around the map.
Above is the location of the museum on the map. However, before you get there, you'll need to dig into artifact sites in Cindersap Forest or the Mountain. Artifact points are somewhat difficult to spot, but you are no doubt familiar with them. They look like worms coming out of the ground. Check out below to see where you'll find Cindersap Forest and the Mountain.
Once you get the Ancient Seed Artifact (which only has a 0,7% drop rate), you'll take it to Gunther in the museum. He'll take it, put it on display, and in turn give you a packet of Ancient Fruit Seeds for you to plant!
Option B: the traveling merchant
This option is often easier than getting a museum deck, but if you want to complete your museum, you'll need to go back and do it the other way around. Taking this path also means you'll have to wait until Friday or Sunday (in-game), as those are the only two days she shows up. However, she doesn't always have Ancient Seeds in her inventory! So you might have to wait a few weeks to get them from her.
Above you will find the Traveling Merchant on her appointed days. Once you finally find the Ancient Seeds in his stash, you will need to pay between 100 and 1000 gold for a single pack.
Step Two: Plant the Seeds
Now that you have the seeds, the rest is easy! Take your seeds to your favorite planting spot on your farm, plant them, and then you're ready for the awesome action-packed adventure below.
Step Three: Wait
Wait for that. Wait, wait and wait some more. Water it daily and wait. The ancient fruit takes 28 days to fully grow and harvest. It's worth a lot of gold, but you'll complete an entire game season before you can sell it or use it to craft crafts. Above is the whole process of growing this rare fruit, if you need to know when to harvest.
A few notes
The most important thing to note is that you should not plant the heirloom in the fall unless you are planting it in your greenhouse. It takes so long to grow and does NOT grow in winter so you will lose all progress and the plant itself if it is outside. Another thing to consider is using the ancient fruit in some craft products. If you level up your artisan profession and craft an ancient purple star fruit into wine, you'll get a nice purse of 4620 gold!
Related: How To Make Wine In Stardew Valley - Pro Game Guides
