When a healthy crop ends a growth cycle, there is a chance it may become diseased. While diseased, the crop stops growing and does not advance to the next stage. Crops do not recover from disease on their own. If the disease is not cured, the crop dies at the end of the diseased cycle. Dead crops require use of a spade to dig up their remains before planting another crop in the patch. Crops grow in real-time, so they may become diseased when a player is offline. In addition, crops that have been cured of disease may become afflicted once again. Fully grown crops will not become diseased.