Grounded 2: How to Unlock the Spicy Glob Recipe

Spicy Globs are the Tier 2 upgrade material that pushes weapons past level 3 and adds Spicy damage in Grounded 2, but the recipe doesn’t show up in the Science Shop on its own. It’s gated behind a single collectible, the Pumpkin Patch Optical Disk, which sits in a wrecked lab module buried inside the scarecrow overlooking the pumpkin patch.

Quick answer: Grab the Pumpkin Patch Optical Disk from the desk in the scarecrow’s hidden lab, turn it in at any Ranger Station, then buy “Smithing: Spicy Glob” from the Science Shop for 1,500 Raw Science.

What you need before the Spicy Glob recipe unlocks

Three things have to line up. The disk unlocks the shop entry, Raw Science pays for it, and an Oven is what actually bakes the glob once you own the recipe.

Requirement	Details
Pumpkin Patch Optical Disk	Found in the hidden lab inside the scarecrow, marked on the map as “Missing Optical Disk”
Raw Science	1,500 for the “Smithing: Spicy Glob” entry
Ranger Station	Any station works for turning in the disk and opening the Science Shop
Oven	Crafting station for the glob itself, unlocked with the Hedge Optical Disk under Advanced Production Buildings

Pumpkin Patch Optical Disk location and route

The approach runs over the greenhouse rather than through the pumpkin patch on the ground. A buggy makes the vertical sections far less painful, and a Spider Buggy in particular handles the shovel climb and the web gaps around the garden without much fuss.

Head to the slanted shovel stuck in the ground west of the greenhouse. This is your ramp up, and the Omni-Gnome sits nearby on the map as a landmark.

Ride the shovel up to the greenhouse roof and cross to the southern edge. Watch for wasps circling the garden structures on the way over.

Player riding a spider buggy along a wooden beam with Gather Mode and Web Throw prompts on screen — Riding a spider buggy up the shovel and onto the greenhouse roof. Image: Obsidian Entertainment

From the southern edge, walk down the wire that connects the roof to the scarecrow’s outstretched arm. It’s a narrow crossing, so take it slowly and keep the camera level.

Character climbing beside a power cord with the objective to track the cord up the pumpkin vines on screen — The power cord running up the pumpkin vines doubles as your guide toward the scarecrow. Image: Obsidian Entertainment

Follow the arm up to the pumpkin head and chop into the weak spot on the outside. Two O.G.R.E. Earwigs are waiting in the hollow interior, and they drop Earwig Parts, Pincers and Heads when you clear them out.

Character crossing giant pumpkin vines toward the scarecrow during the Power to the Garden quest — Crossing the giant pumpkin vines toward the scarecrow during Power to the Garden. Image: Obsidian Entertainment

Chop through the far side of the pumpkin to open the way into the scarecrow’s body. Use the vines strung through the interior to drop down the tunnels safely.

Player squeezing past broken debris inside a dark interior passage — The tunnels inside the scarecrow are cramped and full of debris on the way down to the lab. Image: Obsidian Entertainment

At the bottom you’ll reach a damaged lab module. The Pumpkin Patch Optical Disk is sitting on a desk in the observation chamber, and picking it up adds a “Missing Optical Disk” marker to your map.

Note: some players reach the same pumpkin patch area by crossing the garden wall instead, riding a buggy along the stone ledge, over the compost bag and down the coiled hose. That works as a traversal option, but the disk itself is still tucked inside the structure, not lying out in the open.

Buy Smithing: Spicy Glob at a Ranger Station

Fast travel or walk back to any Ranger Station and interact with the terminal. Turning in the disk is what registers the new shop stock, so don’t leave it sitting in your pack.

Open the Science Shop list and scroll to “Smithing: Spicy Glob,” which sits alongside the Mint Glob and Sour Glob entries. Buy it for 1,500 Raw Science.

Science Shop menu at a Ranger Station with the Smithing: Spicy Glob entry highlighted for purchase — The Smithing: Spicy Glob entry in the Ranger Station’s Science Shop. Image: Obsidian Entertainment

You’ll know it worked when the entry drops off the purchasable list and Spicy Glob appears as a craftable item under your Oven recipes. If it’s still greyed out or missing, the usual causes are simple: the disk hasn’t been handed in at a station yet, you’re short on Raw Science, or you haven’t built an Oven to craft at.

Spicy Glob crafting materials and station

Once the recipe is yours, each glob is a cheap bake. Spicy Shards are a Tier 2 natural resource, and Sturdy Whetstones are standard intermediate stock you’ll already be producing for upgrades.

Item	Materials	Station
Spicy Glob	2 Spicy Shard, 1 Sturdy Whetstone	Oven

What Spicy Globs are used for

Beyond pushing gear past upgrade level 3 with Spicy damage, the globs feed several endgame-leaning recipes. Spicy damage scales up or down depending on what you’re hitting, so it’s worth reserving for the creatures that take extra from it.

Item	Cost in Spicy Globs	Station
Spicy Coaltana	2, plus 5 EverChar Coal Chunk and 4 Wolf Spider Chunk	Workbench
Boom Stick	3, plus Blistering Boiler, Hyper Beam and 3 Gunpowder Clump	Forbidden Workbench
Wyrm Slayer Chestplate	3, plus 4 Ashen Leather and 3 Lint Rope	Workbench
Bale Scale	1, plus Snake Scale, Mint Glob and Sour Glob	Workbench

Two free Spicy Globs in Pine Hill

If you want a Spicy Coaltana before the recipe is paid off, there are two Spicy Globs sitting in a Buried Treasure chest in Pine Hill. It’s in the crevice among the roots of the westernmost tree, flagged by the Pop Cap rings scattered around it, and you’ll need a Tier 2 Omni-Shovel to dig it up.

The chest only opens with the Sizzling Key, which you loot after beating the Masked Stranger. That makes it a one-time supply rather than a substitute for the recipe, and players have reported inconsistent drop counts from the chest.

Comment
byu/New_Bug_4253 from discussion
inGroundedGame

The scarecrow climb is the only real hurdle here, and it’s a short one if you bring a buggy and deal with the earwigs before poking around the lab. After that, Spicy Globs go from a finite chest reward to something you can bake on demand at the Oven, which is the difference between owning one spicy weapon and actually keeping it repaired and upgraded.