The Sims 3 Guide Essentials Skills
Gardening
Gardening is a great skill for Green Thumb Sims, Sims who want to cook, and Sims who like the outdoors. This skill tree lets you turn a backyard into a harvestable-growing paradise. But gardening is a lot of work and takes time to master.
Acquire by: Take Gardening Class, Read Gardening Book
Development tools: Gardening Books, Seeds
Available ages: Teen, Young Adult, Adult, Elder
Development Benefits
Learn the Gardening skill by taking a class or reading a gardening book. You can also plant a seed and cultivate it to start developing the skill. Once the skill has been acquired, Sims can choose the Plant interaction from seeds and other harvestables in their personal inventories. Once a seed has been planted, Sims can water it. As they continue leveling, they unlock two more critical interactions: Weed and Fertilize.
Here are the unlockable interactions or specials for the development of the Gardening skill:
Weed (Level 2): Once the Weed interaction is unlocked, Sims can pull up choking weeds before they damage a harvestable. The higher the skill level, the less time it takes to clear weeds around a plant.
Fertilize (Level 3): Fertilizing is key to growing the best harvestables. No one fertilizer is better for a particular plant. The quality of the fertilizer is what affects the potential growth of the harvestable.
Uncommon Seeds (Level 5): Once the Sim reaches this level, they can plant uncommon seeds.
Revive Plant (Level 6): If a Sim has the Green Thumb trait, this interaction is unlocked at level 6. A dying plant can be rescued with a pretty high success rate by using this interaction on it.
Rare Seeds (Level 7): Once the Sim reaches this level, they can plant rare seeds.
Special Plants (Levels 8, 9, and 10): At level 8, you get the first of three special gardening opportunities from the chef at the bistro. There is one opportunity per level: 8, 9, and 10. Once all three have been completed, the Sim receives Omni Plant seeds and the ability to plant them.
The better care you give a plant and the higher your Gardening skill level, the better quality fruit a plant produces. Plants range from horrifying to perfect, just like prepared recipes from the Cooking skill. Better quality harvestables, are worth more when sold. Some gardening opportunities require plants of specific qualities, too. Nurturing excellent harvestables is the best way to advance this skill.
To raise the best harvestables, you must show no mercy with your plants. Keep growing as many as you can and Dispose of the lowest quality ones, so you keep breeding higher quality harvestables. Combine this tactic with raising your skill level to keep growing better harvestables. Using quality harvestables in your cooking improves the quality of recipes, which in turn gives out better meal-related moodlets.
Seeds
Sims need seeds to grow harvestables. Not all seeds are easy to grow into successful plants, though. Sims must level up the Gardening skill to plant all types of seeds: common, uncommon, and rare.
Many seeds can just be bought from EverFresh, such as grape or tomato. Just buy the fruit and then plant it. However, Sims can also find seeds by exploring Sunset Valley. Every morning, there are new seeds in new locations, so look around daily to see what’s on the ground. The farther away from houses and commerce buildings Sims look, the more likely they are to find uncommon and rare seeds. Seeds are unknown when found. To discover what the seed will grow, it must be planted and nurtured. Once you grow a harvestable from a found seed, you recognize that seed in the wild.
Money Tree
Life Fruit
Death Blossom
Flame Fruit
Fertilizers
There are many different types of fertilizer to use on your plants to help them grow into high-quality harvestables. Here’s a full list of the best fertilizers:
| Ingredient | Effectiveness | Fish | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheese | 1 | Anchovy | 1 |
| Burger Patty | 1 | Goldfish | 1 |
| Egg | 1 | Alley Catfish | 1 |
|
Lettuce |
1 |
Rainbow Trout |
1 |
| Tomato | 1 | Minnow | 3 |
| Onion | 1 | Jelltfish | 3 |
| Potato | 1 | Tuna | 3 |
| Apple | 1 | Salmon | 4 |
| Lime | 1 | Black Goldfish | 4 |
| Grapes | 1 | Swordfish | 4 |
| Watermelon | 2 | Red Herring | 5 |
| Steak | 3 | Tragic Clownfish | 5 |
| Bell Pepper | 3 | Siamese Catfsh | 5 |
| Garlic | 3 | Piranha | 5 |
| Flame Fruit | 3 | Blowfish | 5 |
| Life fruit | 4 | Shark | 6 |
|
|
|
Lobster | 6 |
| Anglefish | 7 | ||
| Vampire Fish | 7 |
Skill Challenges
Master Planter: A Master Planter must plant every type of plant available. Once you have mastered the varieties, you can reduce weed growth significantly on future plants.
Botanical Boss: Botanical Bosses must harvest at least 75 perfect fruits and vegetables. 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.