Gardening (The Sims 3)

Gardening

A Sim gardening.

For gardening in other games, see Gardening.

Gardening is a skill in The Sims 3. The skill is augmented by the Green Thumb trait, and the Super Green Thumb lifetime reward. It involves (as with gardening in real life and the previous Sims games) the planting, growing and harvesting of various plants that Sims can find within the game. Unlike the previous Sims games, The Sims 3 gardening has been much expanded upon, introducing many real-life plants and several fictional species such as the 'Life Fruit', 'Flame Fruit', and 'Plasma Fruit'.

Some expansion packs include more varieties of plant collections. Some of the plants can be used as ingredients for Nectar Making and Mixology, with the key ingredients for Nectar Making being the grapes from Champs Les Sims. With Ambitions, Sims can register as a self-employed gardener.

Statistics

Number Planted, Unique Plants Planted, Items Harvested, Perfect Items Harvested, Unknown Seeds Planted, Best Harvestable, Money Earned, Largest Money Bag Harvested.

Challenges

Master Planter

A Master Planter must plant 19 types of plant that can be planted in the game. Once you have mastered the varieties you will be able to reduce weed growth significantly on future plants.

Botanical Boss

Botanical Bosses must harvest at least 75 Perfect fruits and vegetables. After so many Perfect harvastables, the plants of Botanical Bosses almost never die from neglect.

Master Farmer

Master Farmers have harvested at least 650 fruits and vegetables. The plants of Master Farmers remain watered and fertilized longer, meaning their gardens are more efficient.

Abilities

Level	Ability
1	Plant Common seeds
2	Weed garden
3	Fertilize garden
5	Plant Uncommon seeds
6	Revive plants (with Green Thumb trait)
7	Plant Rare and Special seeds
8	Plant Cheese and Egg plants (via Skill Opportunities)
9	Plant Burger Patty and Steak plants (via Skill Opportunities)
10	Plant Omni Plant seeds (via Skill Opportunities)

Plants

Plants and seeds can be planted at home. Seeds can be found on the ground throughout the town or upon reaching level 1, while plants can be found from the supermarket, vegetable stand, or harvesting from wild plants.

Image	Plant	Rarity	Value (in §)	Max Produce	Fertilizer		Nectar Value	EP
					Value	Days
	Tomato	Common	3	20	5	4	-	&BG
	Apple	Common	4	40	5	4	3	&BG
	Grape	Common	4	15	5	3	3	&BG
	Lettuce	Common	3	15	5	4	-	&BG
	Onion	Uncommon	7	25	5	6	-	&BG
	Potato	Uncommon	7	15	5	5	-	&BG
	Watermelon	Uncommon	9	10	10	5	7	&BG
	Lime	Uncommon	9	40	5	6	7	&BG
	Bell Pepper	Rare	12	15	15	4	-	&BG
	Garlic	Rare	15	30	15	6	-	&BG
	Life Fruit	Special	25	12	25	6	22	&BG
	Death Flower	Special	0	2	-200	4	-	&BG
	Money Tree	Special	Varies	10,000	-	-	-	&BG
	Flame Fruit	Special	18	20	15	4	18	&BG
	Egg	Special	7	15	5	4	-	&BG
	Cheese	Special	5	15	5	4	-	&BG
	Patty	Special	16	15	5	4	-	&BG
	Steak	Special	20	15	15	4	-	&BG
	Omni Plant	Special	Varies	25	-	-	-	&BG
	Renoit Grapes	Common	4	30	5	3	5	&EP01
	Cherimola Blan Grapes	Common	4	30	5	3	5	&EP01
	Pomegranate	Uncommon	8	50	7	3	6	&EP01
	Plum	Uncommon	7	50	8	3	7	&EP01
	Avornalino Grapes	Uncommon	7	30	10	3	8	&EP01
	Meloire Grapes	Uncommon	8	30	10	3	10	&EP01
	Pomelo	Rare	15	50	12	5	12	&EP01
	Cherries	Rare	12	50	15	4	9	&EP01
	Gralladina Fran Grapes	Rare	10	30	15	3	12	&EP01
	Cranerlet Nuala Grapes	Rare	13	30	15	3	16	&EP01
	Plasma Fruit	Rare	20	2	20	4	18	&EP03
	Carrot	Uncommon	7	20	5	6	-	&EP05
	Banana	Rare	7	50	5	6	0	&EP06
	Mandrake Root	Common	6	20	5	3	-	&EP07
	Porcinis	Common	10	30	10	4	-	&EP07
	Red Toadstool	Common	20	30	10	6	-	&EP07
	Red Valerian Root	Common	6	20	5	3	-	&EP07
	White Caps	Common	5	30	5	6	-	&EP07
	Wolfsbane Flower	Common	13	20	10	3	-	&EP07
	Mycenas	Uncommon	33	15	12	5	-	&EP07
	Spotlight Mushroom	Uncommon	38	15	15	4	-	&EP07
	Ghost Chili	Rare	22	15	15	3	-	&EP07
	Glow Orbs	Rare	64	15	20	6	-	&EP07
	Truffles	Rare	42	30	20	4	-	&EP07
	Pumpkin	Uncommon	9	10	10	5	-	&EP08
	Basil	Common	15	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Midnight Bean	Common	12	20	10	5	-	&EP09
	Ginseng	Common	13	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Kona Bean	Common	9	20	10	5	-	&EP09
	Maui Bean	Common	11	20	10	5	-	&EP09
	Peppermint	Common	§12	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Lavender	Uncommon	17	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Cinnamon	Uncommon	16	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Cortado Bean	Uncommon	22	20	10	5	-	&EP09
	Licorice	Uncommon	13	15	10	4	-	&EP09
	Greenleaf	Uncommon	19	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Red Berry Bean	Uncommon	50	20	10	5	-	&EP09
	Sweet Grass	Uncommon	9	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Wonderpetal	Uncommon	12	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Buzzberry	Uncommon	18	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Chamomile	Rare	29	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Bumbleleaf	Rare	26	15	10	5	-	&EP09
	Forbidden Fruit	Special		1			-	&EP09
	Lemon	Common	4	15			4	&Store
	Purple Eggplant	Common	4				-	&Store

Notes

• The sale values of each plant depends on its quality. The higher the quality, the more valuable it will be, based on its base value:
  • Normal: 100%
  • Nice: 110%
  • Very Nice: 150%
  • Great: 200%
  • Excellent: 250%
  • Outstanding: 300%
  • Perfect: 400%
• Max Produce is the maximum produce the plant can bear before being barren.
• Nectar Value is the value of the produce when used as a single nectar ingredient.

Quality

Harvested produce has a quality ranging from horrifying, putrid, foul, bad, normal, nice, very nice, great, excellent, outstanding, and perfect. Higher quality produce is worth more for selling and will have increased strength as fertilizer. The quality of the harvested produce roughly corresponds to the quality of the plants. Thus, an excellent apple tree will usually bear excellent apples, however there is a chance of harvesting higher quality produce.

Produce can be used as ingredients for Cooking, Nectar Making, and Mixology. The food, nectar, and drink quality depends on how the quality of the used produce. Some produce can also be used as fishing bait.

Fertilizer

Fertilizer is used to enhance the produce. The quality of the produce will increase as long as the fertilizer is applied.

Image	Fertilizer	Grade	Time (Days)	Relative Potency
	Lifefruit	25	6	150
	Sea Sludge	25	4	100
	Angelfish	25	4	100
	Vampirefish	25	3	75
	Dragonfish	25	3	75
	Mummyfish	25	3	75
	Glow Orbs	20	6	120
	Truffles	20	4	80
	Ninja Starfish	20	4	80
	Plasma Fruit	20	4	80
	Shark	20	4	80
	Lobster	20	3	60
	Garlic	15	6	90
	Spotlight Mushrooms	15	4	60
	Cherries	15	4	60
	Steak	15	4	60
	Bell Pepper	15	4	60
	Flame Fruit	15	4	60
	Blowfish	15	4	60
	Piranha	15	4	60
	Red Herring	15	4	60
	Siamese Catfish	15	4	60
	Tragic Clownfish	15	4	60
	Ghost Chili	15	3	45
	Linckia Starfish	15	3	45
	Sewer Trilobite	15	3	45
	Gralladina Fran Grapes	15	3	45
	Cranerlet Nuala Grapes	15	3	45
	Unicorn Fertilizer	15	3	45
	Mycenas	12	5	60
	Pomelo	12	5	60
	Black Goldfish	12	3	36
	Salmon	12	3	36
	Swordfish	12	3	36
	Red Toadstools	10	6	60
	Watermelon	10	5	50
	Porcinis	10	4	40
	Fairy Damsel	10	4	40
	Jellyfish	10	4	40
	Minnow	10	4	40
	Wolfsbane Flower	10	3	30
	Sea Bat Starfish	10	3	30
	Avornalino Grapes	10	3	30
	Meloire Grapes	10	3	30
	Tuna	10	3	30
	Horse Fertilizer	10	3	30
	Plum	8	3	24
	Rainbow Trout	8	3	24
	Pomegranate	7	3	21
	White Caps	5	6	30
	Banana	5	6	30
	Carrots	5	6	30
	Lime	5	6	30
	Onion	5	6	30
	Potato	5	5	25
	Burger Patty	5	4	20
	Cheese	5	4	20
	Egg	5	4	20
	Apple	5	4	20
	Lettuce	5	4	20
	Tomato	5	4	20
	Mandrake Root	5	3	15
	Red Valerian Root	5	3	15
	Toad	5	3	15
	Luminous Salamander	5	3	15
	Cherimola Blan Grapes	5	3	15
	Renoit Grapes	5	3	15
	Crocodile	5	3	15
	Crawfish	5	3	15
	Frogs	5	3	15
	Doitsu Koi	5	3	15
	Kawarimono Koi	5	3	15
	Ochiba Koi	5	3	15
	Tancho Koi	5	3	15
	Snails	5	3	15
	Kissing Gourami	5	3	15
	Grapes	5	3	15
	Alley Catfish	5	3	15
	Anchovy	5	3	15
	Goldfish	5	3	15
	Deathfish	-200	4	-800

The time is increased by 1 day for Great, Excellent, and Outstanding fertilizer, and 2 days for perfect fertilizer.

The quality of the fertilizer modifies its effectiveness. For qualities ranging from Horrifying (the lowest) to Very Nice inclusively, a multiplier is applied to the fertilizer's effectiveness or grade ranging from 0.6 to 1.2. This modifier increases by 0.1 with each successive level of quality the fertilizer gains. Starting from Very Nice up to Perfect, that is from 1.2 to 2.0, the modifier increases by increments of 0.2 with each improvement to the fertilizer's quality. The net result is that the worst possible quality (Horrifying) reduces the effectiveness of the fertilizer by 40%, a Normal quality fertilizer maintains it as it is (fertilizer x 1.0), and a Perfect fertilizer doubles the original efficiency (fertilizer x 2.0). The following table presents all the relevant data.

Fertilizer modifiers based on its quality

Fertilizer Quality	Multiplier
Horrifying	0.6
Putrid	0.7
Foul	0.8
Bad	0.9
Normal	1.0
Nice	1.1
Very Nice	1.2
Great	1.4
Excellent	1.6
Outstanding	1.8
Perfect	2.0

Furthermore, having the Master Farmer challenge completed gives an additional 2 days of fertilized time to any plant.

Helpful tips

Sprinkler area of effect.

• Dead vs Barren

Dead plants can occur after you neglect any plants under 'Wilting' condition for one day. After that, your Sim will have to dispose or revive them (Green Thumb trait is required for reviving). Barren plants have the same appearance as dead plants, but they cannot be revived. Each plant will become barren after it reaches its maximum amount of produce.

(Note: Money trees cannot be revived as they'll explode upon their death)

• Sick of watering your plants?

This helpful sprinkler waters plants in a 5x5 area. Once turned on, it will run 24/7. It can be upgraded with Auto-Water so it will run between 4am and 7am, which is helpful as it starts an hour before the growth occurs, and ends an hour after.

• The best choice in traits for Gardening

The Green Thumb trait increases the quality of plant produce and grants the "Talk To Plant" interaction, which fills the social motive of the Sim.

The Loves the Outdoors trait will create a positive moodlet when a Sim possessing it is outdoors.

The Eco-friendly trait will also create a positive moodlet when gardening.

The Gatherer trait increases the quality of produce harvested from seeds the Sim plants.

• Search the neighborhood for better quality seeds to start with.
• Using high-quality fertilizer can shorten growth time to as few as 4 days from planting to harvesting.
• Plasma Fruit seed is the easiest unknown special seed to recognize, the seed has a red pulse on it.
• The Harvester tool in Ambitions speeds up the harvesting process.
• Unicorn's ability to bless flora can make plants grow up one level higher, up until they are harvestable.

Notes

• There is a glitch that prevents Sims from ordering omniplant seeds via mailbox normally after patch 1.17, this is because the Sim's action queue will be automatically dropped when they reach the mailbox. But there is a method for the Sim to bypass the glitch and order the omniplant seed via mailbox normally.
• All plants are immune from meteor impact and they will not be destroyed even if the meteor falls near them, their produce will be destroyed but it can be replaced for Simoleons.
• Replacing destroyed produce for Simoleons is useless because the produce will have 0 simoleon value and can't be planted anymore.
• Gardening skill is only used in Science career.
• There is a glitch with Gardening after installing The Sims 3: Supernatural. Sims will be unable to continue gardening because the Sim's action queue will be automatically dropped when doing any gardening option (watering plant, tend garden, etc.); after harvesting plants (most notably mushrooms) plants may remain in the state harvestable instead of going back to the mature/mycelium state without having any more produce, which results in them no longer producing any more produce and disrupting the gardening queue from any Sim trying to tend the garden, because he/she tries to harvest the bugged plant, which is impossible. Deleting the bugged plant via buy/build mode solves the problem. This bug only occurs if at least one Sim in your household was either moved there from a different neighborhood or has collectable items in his inventory, he/she gathered before the Supernatural patch.
• There is a glitch with mushroom collector challenge, this challenge will be reset to 0 if you move your sim to another city.
• Weeds only increase the time plants need to grow from one stage to the next (around doubled), they don't reduce the quality of the plant or the produce. So if you have the space in your garden, doubling the number of plants will yield the same amount of produce/time but will save your Sim the time required to weed the plants by only harvesting instead of tending the garden.

If the harvested produce is sold to a supermarket, it sells at a 10% higher value than if sold via an inventory hole.

External Link

• For more on fertilizer's effects, see Carl's Sims 3 Fertilizer Tests