Gardening Question

[Kleptophor]

My plants grow overnight, and it takes 2 Sims the entire day to tend them all leaving no time for anything else. How long can I leave plants unharvested, is there a time limit?

[HiFive]

Putting sprinklers on the lot will at least eliminate the watering task. The sprinklers can be upgraded to auto-water. The down side is that your Sims and the visiting Sims will all want to play in the sprinklers every chance they get. If you don't fertilize, then you will get little or no produce, or lower quality produce.

When you level up the gardening skill, the plants will need less attention. Grow a smaller garden if you don't want to spend all day on it. You can level the skill with a really small garden. Just keep checking to see if any better quality fruits have been harvested. Get rid of the lower quality plants and plant the better quality ones, then repeat the process until you are growing the best quality plants.

Leveling the skill will also allow you to plant rare seeds and fruits, with big benefits once you have fully leveled the skill.

[Xautos]

i planted an 8x8 lot for rare to common plants and a separate 2x6 special lot for gardening tasks. from start to finish after each morning at 5am game time, it takes about 4 hours with one sim without the sprinkers. With the sprinklers the time is halved. that stated, some plants will still need watering even though they are directly within the range of the sprinkler in question.

my sim grew a money tree but the amount coming from the outstanding quality tree is meagre at best, about 900 simoleons per harvest.

in order to get as far as you mentioned op, your garden must be massive. something like 30x30 or something of the like.

Diposting pertama kali oleh HiFive:

Just keep checking to see if any better quality fruits have been harvested. Get rid of the lower quality plants and plant the better quality ones, then repeat the process until you are growing the best quality plants.

ultimately this doesn't matter so much as after a number of harvests the plant will die anyway and need replacing once the dead plant is pulled up. you can keep the original plants and it's more costly in the long run replacing plants because of a small difference in quality, for example from very nice to great quality.

it would only really be worth pulling up plants if there is a significant difference in quality to warrant the disruption to your harvest and profits, for example going from normal to excellent.

[Ook]

I usually bring an extra sim or two into the household, and put them to work tending the garden. That way you can have huge gardens.

[Kleptophor]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Ook:

I usually bring an extra sim or two into the household, and put them to work tending the garden. That way you can have huge gardens.

I have a total of 4 Sims I plan on working the field, but I'm trying to boost other skills first.

Diposting pertama kali oleh Xautos:

i planted an 8x8 lot for rare to common plants and a separate 2x6 special lot for gardening tasks. from start to finish after each morning at 5am game time, it takes about 4 hours with one sim without the sprinkers. With the sprinklers the time is halved. that stated, some plants will still need watering even though they are directly within the range of the sprinkler in question.

my sim grew a money tree but the amount coming from the outstanding quality tree is meagre at best, about 900 simoleons per harvest.

in order to get as far as you mentioned op, your garden must be massive. something like 30x30 or something of the like.

Diposting pertama kali oleh HiFive:

Just keep checking to see if any better quality fruits have been harvested. Get rid of the lower quality plants and plant the better quality ones, then repeat the process until you are growing the best quality plants.

ultimately this doesn't matter so much as after a number of harvests the plant will die anyway and need replacing once the dead plant is pulled up. you can keep the original plants and it's more costly in the long run replacing plants because of a small difference in quality, for example from very nice to great quality.

it would only really be worth pulling up plants if there is a significant difference in quality to warrant the disruption to your harvest and profits, for example going from normal to excellent.

I have 10 potatoes, 10 lettuces, 10 grapes, 10 garlic, 10 carrots, 5 apple trees, 5 lime trees, 4 banana trees, 10 ghost chilies, 10 bell peppers, 10 onions, 10 tomatoes, and 10 basil.

[HiFive]

Once you are fully leveled, having multiple money trees and life fruits and omni plants can be very profitable!

The life fruits are worth more than other produce and are also excellent gifts to give to other Sims if you want to gain favor with them.

The money tree is instant daily Simoleans, of course.

The omni plant can reproduce several copies of the most expensive books that you feed it. If you have the World Adventures EP, you can get expensive books from each country, as well.

You also earn cash rewards from the town if you register as being self-employed.

Each plant will only give you a few fruits that are one level higher in quality if you fertilize it properly. You won't get a big jump in quality of fruit from one plant. It's not possible. If you happen to find a better quality seed or fruit from your explorations, sure, but a "normal" plant is not going to give you an "excellent" fruit. If you need the normal plant for food, then keep it. If you want to level your garden skill faster and save Sim time, then pull up the old plant and plant the higher quality seed/fruit as soon as you get it.

I use the Seasons DLC, but I change the length of the seasons when I am playing gardeners, since most farmers in various countries would locate their farms in warmer areas where there is very little or no snow. Given that this game will put snow on the beaches where there are palm trees - something not true to life at all, it's what you must do to be a real gardener. Palm trees do not survive in snow! They are a tropical plant and grow around water sources in deserts and also in jungles. It would be too annoying to try being a gardener with the game's standard seasonal changes.

Also, if you have World Adventures, gardening in the other countries is better, since there is no snow in those.

[HiFive]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Kleptophor:

I have 10 potatoes, 10 lettuces, 10 grapes, 10 garlic, 10 carrots, 5 apple trees, 5 lime trees, 4 banana trees, 10 ghost chilies, 10 bell peppers, 10 onions, 10 tomatoes, and 10 basil.

That is a large garden. That's why it's taking so long to work in it. You definitely need sprinklers. They are found in the outdoor toys section. However, like I said, you don't need a large garden to level the skill. A small garden, where you quickly replace plants with higher level ones is the fastest way to level the skill. It's not how much time you put into the skill as it is the quality of time you put in. So, use the best fertilizers (choose them by hand, don't let the game choose) on a few plants, replace them with better plants, repeat. Lobsters purchased from the market are a quick way to get the best quality fertilizer for your plants when you are first starting out.

Gardening is my favorite thing to do on the game, and I have leveled many, many gardeners.

[HiFive]

By the way, a new Sim in the household will level their garden skill very quickly if they plant and harvest superior plants from their already-leveled Sim roommate. That's what I mean about the quality of time you put in versus the actual amount of time you put in. It's the quality of the plants you are planting and harvesting.

[Xautos]

Diposting pertama kali oleh HiFive:

Each plant will only give you a few fruits that are one level higher in quality if you fertilize it properly. You won't get a big jump in quality of fruit from one plant. It's not possible. If you happen to find a better quality seed or fruit from your explorations, sure, but a "normal" plant is not going to give you an "excellent" fruit. If you need the normal plant for food, then keep it. If you want to level your garden skill faster and save Sim time, then pull up the old plant and plant the higher quality seed/fruit as soon as you get it.

that's of course your interpretation.

i meant by being worth your time pulling up plants as in if you planted a "normal" quality plant and then you found an "excellent" quality seed, it's worth more to pull the much lesser quality plant up and get that excellent quality seed in place. it would be far less a risk compared to going from a "very nice" plant to a "great" seed instead, it just wouldn't be worth the effort.

[marstinson]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Kleptophor:

My plants grow overnight, and it takes 2 Sims the entire day to tend them all leaving no time for anything else. How long can I leave plants unharvested, is there a time limit?

OK, the question you asked first: no. Plants will remain at the Harvest stage indefinitely, although they will go dormant if it gets below freezing (if you have Seasons installed). Now for the questions you didn't ask:

If it's taking two Sims all day to do the basic gardening stuff, you've got a lot of plants to tend. If you're just in it for the Simoleons, stick to the stuff that's going to get you the most money, don't plant anything other than Perfect quality, and get those skill challenges done so your plants will stay weeded and watered longer. If you have Ambitions, sell your stuff at the Consignment store. If you have Supernatural, you can also sell your harvest at the Elixir store. You'll get better prices from that than from just selling it to the grocery or from your inventory. It will just take a day or two before you get your Simoleons.

If your plants are not at Perfect quality, then harvest first (ignore the Tend Garden interaction). Rip out anything that's lower quality than your best harvest and replant a couple (no more than that) of your best quality harvests (sell the rest) until your plants (and harvest) are Perfect quality. Once you've harvested (and reduced the number of plants you're tending), you can go back and water, then weed anything that needs it.

Until they are Perfect, fertilize what you replant since it will speed up the quality improvement. Buy Garlic at the grocery store and use that. It's a bit pricey and it will last longer than you need right now, but it's an excellent fertilizer. After they are Perfect, fertilize anything that takes more than four days to reach the Harvest stage, but you can ignore the stuff that takes four days since the fertilizer won't speed up the maturity rate to less than four days and it won't improve the quality beyond Perfect. If you have a Fairy handy that's Level 5 or higher in Fairy Magic, have them cast Bloom after you replant and fertilize. You can go from freshly planted to Harvest in a few Sim-minutes (or until their magic runs out).

If you're in it for the Perfect Garden LTW, you only need to raise eight different plants to Perfect. Once that's done, you're done.

If you're in it just because you like to garden, then plant what you'd like, but hold it down to a couple of plants of each type to keep things manageable. Except Money Trees - plant as many of those as you can find the seeds for and can take care of (they're practically immortal, so it's a daily money harvest).

If you need some of the finer details, check out my guide
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=479533140

[Kleptophor]

Diposting pertama kali oleh marstinson:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Kleptophor:

My plants grow overnight, and it takes 2 Sims the entire day to tend them all leaving no time for anything else. How long can I leave plants unharvested, is there a time limit?

OK, the question you asked first: no. Plants will remain at the Harvest stage indefinitely, although they will go dormant if it gets below freezing (if you have Seasons installed). Now for the questions you didn't ask:

If it's taking two Sims all day to do the basic gardening stuff, you've got a lot of plants to tend. If you're just in it for the Simoleons, stick to the stuff that's going to get you the most money, don't plant anything other than Perfect quality, and get those skill challenges done so your plants will stay weeded and watered longer. If you have Ambitions, sell your stuff at the Consignment store. If you have Supernatural, you can also sell your harvest at the Elixir store. You'll get better prices from that than from just selling it to the grocery or from your inventory. It will just take a day or two before you get your Simoleons.

If your plants are not at Perfect quality, then harvest first (ignore the Tend Garden interaction). Rip out anything that's lower quality than your best harvest and replant a couple (no more than that) of your best quality harvests (sell the rest) until your plants (and harvest) are Perfect quality. Once you've harvested (and reduced the number of plants you're tending), you can go back and water, then weed anything that needs it.

Until they are Perfect, fertilize what you replant since it will speed up the quality improvement. Buy Garlic at the grocery store and use that. It's a bit pricey and it will last longer than you need right now, but it's an excellent fertilizer. After they are Perfect, fertilize anything that takes more than four days to reach the Harvest stage, but you can ignore the stuff that takes four days since the fertilizer won't speed up the maturity rate to less than four days and it won't improve the quality beyond Perfect. If you have a Fairy handy that's Level 5 or higher in Fairy Magic, have them cast Bloom after you replant and fertilize. You can go from freshly planted to Harvest in a few Sim-minutes (or until their magic runs out).

If you're in it for the Perfect Garden LTW, you only need to raise eight different plants to Perfect. Once that's done, you're done.

If you're in it just because you like to garden, then plant what you'd like, but hold it down to a couple of plants of each type to keep things manageable. Except Money Trees - plant as many of those as you can find the seeds for and can take care of (they're practically immortal, so it's a daily money harvest).

If you need some of the finer details, check out my guide
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=479533140

Finally, somebody answering the actual question. Thanks. As for the number of crops, it's because I'm trying to make it a full farm, not just a garden, so smaller wouldn't exactly work for what I'm trying to do. Even got a horse.

Diposting pertama kali oleh HiFive:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Kleptophor:

I have 10 potatoes, 10 lettuces, 10 grapes, 10 garlic, 10 carrots, 5 apple trees, 5 lime trees, 4 banana trees, 10 ghost chilies, 10 bell peppers, 10 onions, 10 tomatoes, and 10 basil.

That is a large garden. That's why it's taking so long to work in it. You definitely need sprinklers. They are found in the outdoor toys section. However, like I said, you don't need a large garden to level the skill. A small garden, where you quickly replace plants with higher level ones is the fastest way to level the skill. It's not how much time you put into the skill as it is the quality of time you put in. So, use the best fertilizers (choose them by hand, don't let the game choose) on a few plants, replace them with better plants, repeat. Lobsters purchased from the market are a quick way to get the best quality fertilizer for your plants when you are first starting out.

Gardening is my favorite thing to do on the game, and I have leveled many, many gardeners.

[HiFive]

The only problem with planting a lot of money trees is that you again run into the problem of taking all day to harvest and care for them. If you ever get to the point where you can't, or don't want to, care for all of them, they can die. When a money tree dies, it drops it's harvest on the ground, which, instead of Simoleans, has now turned into bills that your Sim must pay. The money trees are immortal only as long as you continue to keep them watered.

Life fruits aren't worth as much as money trees or omni plants, but they are good for keeping your Sims alive as long as you want and, as I already mentioned, they are excellent gifts for any Sim you want to make friends with. Feeding life fruits to your plants can help extend their life cycle, but the first frost will still kill all plants except for money trees. Any plant that doesn't appear killed and seems to survive through Winter will usually not produce any fruits or vegetables when Winter ends, although I have had some exceptions recently.

Omni plants can earn you the most, but they have a normal life cycle and are more work. The game typically gives you good quality seeds with the first few that come in the mail, and then you start getting a lot of Normal quality or bad quality seeds after that. Omni plants of lower quality will reproduce books that are worth less than the ones reproduced by higher quality plants.

I often will continue planting some of the other plants, as well, to help the future cooks in my family, who will then be able to prepare better food with the Perfect quality produce. Your farming Sim will also gain a better reputation in town by selling Perfect produce in the market or Consignment shop. I just like to feel like I'm helping all of them make better meals for their families. I haven't really noticed them bringing better quality foods to my potluck parties. Potluck food always seems to be just Normal quality, but I've never done a real test to prove that. It would be nice if that was a metric in the game, though. :)

Don't put a cook in your family until your gardening skills are fully leveled. They will use your best produce for their cooking before you get a chance to plant it. The only way to prevent this is to keep all of the produce in your garden Sim's personal inventory, or get rid of the refrigerator in your kitchen and keep one in a completely walled-in room that no Sim can access. Only you will be able to access the fridge to store your best fruits and veggies. All refrigerators that your Sims own are connected, even if they are on different lots. To open one fridge is to open all of the others. The game sees all of them as just one fridge, except for fridges that are stored in different worlds. Fridges stored in different worlds will reset to basic supplies every time you leave that world to return home, so don't store important things in them.

[marstinson]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Kleptophor:

Finally, somebody answering the actual question. Thanks. As for the number of crops, it's because I'm trying to make it a full farm, not just a garden, so smaller wouldn't exactly work for what I'm trying to do. Even got a horse.

The only suggestion I can think of on this one (aside from installing sprinklers - that's going to be a necessity with so many plants) is to fall back on the old tried and true: have a lot of kids and get them out into the fields to help. Sims have to be Teen or older to Garden, but it will keep them out of trouble on the weekends. LOL!