You generally need ultracompost or the farmer’s protection payment to keep mahogany trees from dying in OSRS. Mahogany trees can still get diseased while growing, so protection is the reliable way to prevent that, while ultracompost only greatly reduces the disease chance rather than eliminating it.

What to use

  • Ultracompost : lowers the chance of disease a lot, but does not guarantee safety.
  • Protection payment : the farmer will look after the tree in exchange for items, which prevents the tree from dying from disease.

Mahogany payment

For mahogany trees , the protection payment mentioned in the guide is 25 yanillian hops per tree. For a full run of four hardwood patches, that comes to 100 hops total.

Practical setup

A basic hardwood run usually includes:

  • Mahogany saplings.
  • A spade and rake.
  • Ultracompost if you are not paying protection.
  • Teleports for the patches you can access.

Important note

Mahogany trees need 55 Farming to plant, and one guide notes you can boost by 3 with a garden pie if needed.

So, the short answer is: use ultracompost, or pay the protection cost with yanillian hops if you want the safest option.