I've been running around Amalur picking most of the glowing plants and trees that dot the landscape. Since my alchemy is so low, however, I'm doing a pretty awful job at actually receiving any items for my troubles.
Do plants respawn in KoA? How long does it take?
Yes, they do grow back. I don't know specifically how long it takes, but here's an idea: I got a house (Gossamer End) in Canneroc, Webwood, and upgraded it to grow some plants in the basement. I return to this house after each quest and by that time any plants that I had picked on my way out have often grown back. I can say that some plants (*seem to) take longer to grow than others, but for the most part, they don't take long. Maybe a day or two in game.
Unrelated: I just wanted to add this... Do the forests in this game conjure thoughts of James Cameron's Avatar? They do for me. Okay, time to stop talking and getting back to playing.
I've tried a few things that do not cause plants to respawn:
There's a timer for it, to be sure. I picked a Black Cohosh plant near the first town, and checked on it periodically as I ran other quests in the game. I estimate it took between 3 and 4 hours of "real" time for the plant to regrow.
After I purchased and upgraded Gossamer End in Canneroc, I did some experiments by picking the plants in the basement and then sleeping for extended periods. There are three types of plants that spawn in the basement of the home:
I'd say from this, you can't really expect to "farm" wild plants in an area without some manner of advancing the game time. Any bed will do, but with the amount of time involved, you're probably better relying on new areas and the stocks of merchants to accumulate ingredients.
Just save and exit the game, disconnect your system from the internet, and turn the system clock ahead. Plants should respawn as soon as you log back into the game.
