Crops in FarmVille will wither if they are not harvested in time. If a plant withers, you can only plow it rather than harvest it. The farmer will gain less experience and no coins for plowing the crop.
The amount of time crops are guaranteed to stay ripe is equal to their growth time. This means, if you plant a crop that takes four hours to grow, it will not wither up to four hours after full growth. The crop will then have a 'cushion period'. This period is equal to half of the growth time of a crop. During this period, the crop may be harvested but, at any time, could wither.
Strawberries (Example)
- 4 hours to grow
- 4 hours of ripeness
- Up to two more hours of ripeness. At any time during this period, the crops may wither.
Loading Issues
Zynga have temporarily stopped withering.
When technical difficulties prevent users from successfully loading FarmVille for extended periods of time, Zynga turns off the withering feature and restores withered plots so farmers do not lose their crops.
See also
- New withering times and FarmVille Photos! (Official FarmVille Forum -- Zynga Community Forums)