I've got some questions about berries that are surprisingly hard to find answers for elsewhere, so I'll ask here. Cart is Platinum, in case it matters, though I always like hearing about differences between various generations and carts within a gen.
- Do the flavor like / dislike from natures have any effect on gameplay beyond determining whether the Figy, etc berries cause confusion when ate in-battle? Do they affect contests and poffins and what-not in some way?
- I understand Growth Mulch halves the growth time and Damp Mulch doubles it and they also affect the rate at which the soil dries out, but is this alteration in line with the change in growth time? As in, will the same berry dry out the soil, say, 3 times during it's growth time sans watering regardless of mulch used, or will, say, a growth mulch Pecha berry dry out the soil 4 times over it's ~6 hour growth time and a damp mulch Pecha berry dry out the soil 2 times over it's ~24 hour growth time?
- Are the berry yields entirely keyed to the soil's moisture, or will repeated watering yield more berries even when the soil is moist? The Gamefaq's guide I found on berries (which answered none of these questions, sadly) recommended watering every 1 hour (30 mins with growth mulch, 2 hours with damp mulch) for optimal yield which sounds like massive overkill and doesn't mesh with what I've personally seen so far; what I've seen is that as long as the soil is moist every time the plant transitions to it's next stage it yields max berries.
Don't know why I care so much about berries, but it bothers me when I can't find solid info on something!