Not saying he isn't botting but you can never be sure. When I lvl Botany I probably look like a botter as well because I find 3-4 nodes that I know will respawn by the time my rotation gets to them. I then just create a traingle/circle of said nodes and visit each in succession. The only thing is usually a node with switch betwee 2 trees at any given "position" on my triangle so sometimes I have to go to one and sometimes I go to the other.

Anyone know if hacking at a tree with a full inventory still grants exp? I know for me that sometimes it just seems faster to grind out hitting HQ exp on gather attempts and I don't bother with trying to AH the stuff I get right away. Especially low level stuff.