I have around 36k to my name. And I'm a level 50 botanist. I just suck at farming shit for hours.
Then you're a horrible botanist =D
There's 10 items alone that can make you bank, easily
Seriously if you leveled your gathering class up to 50 and can't make gil... Jesus!
Right now E. Thanalan there are 2 items that make you boatloads
In South Shroud you have 1 that every WVR longs for
Coerthas has a nice item, that can be a fast seller, you burn through stacks of it quickly on your retainer
Mor Dohna gives you the chance to grab 45 clusters of an element
Middle La Noscea gives you an item at level 50, which a lot of crafters require and top of that you have fire shard/crystals in the mix too
If you chase for the gold axe for botany, your node hit on the lvl 50 node give you so many shards/crystals, Wind Shards from South Shroud, Lightning shards/crystals from Central Thanalan, Fire shards/crystals from Middle La Noscea
You also have the 1 hour nodes that can be helpful if you keep hoarding them, then unleashing them when the market prices is just right
I think 3.5mil of my 4.5mil gil is just from Botany/Mining, I have 30+ items in rotations
If markets starts dipping I pull out, put something in its place
Hell I now mine/botany for a hour or two, put 40 retainer slots worth of stuff, then go kill mobs for their drops, while I'm killing, I see my shit selling, by the time I get back, I put up the loot I gathered, then I go mine/botany till that sells
You have to put in time & effort to make gil
Rather make slow & steady gil over time than chunks and then wait till next big hit
Sometimes gil is needed for certain things that may arise