Content reference: demo v0.5.4
Check the whole loop
If Bush is still locked, visit The Worm and buy Bush before selecting a plant. Its initial v0.5.4 unlock cost is 5 juice; check the price displayed in your shop. If you are stuck near your starting juice, select a plant, paint ground, water it, wait for growth and collect fruit. Colored ground alone is not a mature productive plant. Check the shops when an upgrade indicator appears. Total production at the bottom right, added in v0.5.0, is different from the juice already collected in your wallet.
Improve the limiting step
If fruit lies around mature plants, shorten your circuit, increase useful pickup reach or consider helper snails. If the route is mostly empty, expand productive planting and inspect fruit-value upgrades instead. The next-upgrade tooltips help you compare the actual effect with its current price. Do not assume every purchase gives the same multiplier.
Measure before expanding
Repeat one collection circuit and compare wallet changes over equal periods. Keep watering, route and helper conditions similar. Enter the observed rate and real shop cost in the upgrade calculator to estimate payback. A frequently visited small forest may work better than an enormous neglected one. This is a comparison method, not a claim of one optimal build or a guaranteed income rate.