Game Help:Sims 3 Skills/Gardening

A major element in The Sims 3 (base game) is the ability to plant and grow a variety of produce items with various effects.

Skill Levels

There are 10 skill levels your sims can have in Gardening. Most levels have their own abilities and perks which are unlocked as your sim gains skill.

Level	Abilities
0	Can plant Common seeds and water plants
1	Lettuce, apple, grape, and tomato seeds added to inventory
2	Can weed plants
3	Can plant Fertilize plants
4
5	Can plant Uncommon seeds
6	Can Revive plants (with Green Thumb trait)
7	Can plant Rare and Special seeds
8	Can plant Cheese and Eggplant (with Skill Opportunity)
9	Can plant Burger Patty and Steak plants (with Skill Opportunity)
10	Can plant Omni Plant seeds (with Skill Opportunity)

Plants

These are all the plants available in The Sims 3.

Icon	Plant	Produce	Skill	Rarity	Value*	Experience**	Weed Chance	Max Produce***	Produce Per Harvest	Additional Info
	Apple Tree	Apple	0	Common	4	175/125	10%	40	3-5	Apples eaten during pregnancy increase the chance of having boys.
	Grapevine	Grapes	0	Common	4	175/125	20%	15	2-4
	Lettuce Plant	Lettuce	0	Common	3	175/125	20%	15	1-3
	Tomato Plant	Tomato	0	Common	3	175/125	20%	20	2-4
	Lime Tree	Lime	5	Uncommon	9	225/175	25%	40	3-5
	Onion Plant	Onion	5	Uncommon	7	225/175	5%	25	1-3
	Potato Plant	Potato	5	Uncommon	7	225/175	5%	15	1-3
	Watermelon Vine	Watermelon	5	Uncommon	9	225/175	25%	10	1-2	Watermelon eaten during pregnancy increases the chance of having girls.
	Bell Pepper Plant	Bell Pepper	7	Rare	12	325/250	20%	15	2-4
	Garlic Plant	Garlic	7	Rare	15	325/250	10%	30	3-5
	Life Plant	Life Fruit	7	Special	25	375/300	25%	12	1-3
	Death Flower Plant	Death Flower	7	Special	0	375/300	2.5%	2	1	If a death flower is in a sim's inventory when they die, the Grim Reaper will take the flower instead of the sim. Death flower bushes flower just once before going barren. A sim with the Green Thumb trait has a chance of reviving the plant to bear one more flower before it goes permamently barren.
	Flame Fruit Bush	Flame Fruit	7	Special	18	375/300	25%	12	1-3	Provides a +5 "Cozy Fire" moodlet when in a sim's inventory.
	Money Tree	Money Bag	7	Special	100-200/bag	375/300	25%	10000	2-5	Produces money bags instead of produce. Unlike other produce, money bags cannot be planted as if they were seeds. Instead, if an empty square is next to it when it reaches Perfect quality, it will drop a Normal quality seed.
	Cheese Plant	Cheese	8	Special	5	150/100	25%	15	2-5	The ability to plant cheeses is given as part of a Skill Opportunity from the Bistro.
	Eggplant	Egg	8	Special	7	150/100	25%	15	2-5	The ability to plant eggs is given as part of a Skill Opportunity from the Bistro.
	Burger Patty Plant	Burger Patty	9	Special	16	150/100	25%	15	2-5	The ability to plant burger patties is given as part of a Skill Opportunity from the Bistro. You must complete the cheese/eggplant opportunity first.
	Steak Plant	Steak	9	Special	20	150/100	25%	15	2-5	The ability to plant steaks is given as part of a Skill Opportunity from the Bistro. You must complete the cheese/eggplant opportunity first.
	Omni Plant	Whatever it has been fed	10	Special	Varies	400/300	15%	25	2-5	The ability to order Omni Plant seeds is given as part of a Skill Opportunity from the Bistro. You must complete the burger patty/steak opportunity first. Plantable only via seeds which can be purchased through the mail. Requires feeding to create produce, and will grow whatever it's fed. Please see the Omni Plant section below for more information.

* Value: Numbers given above are the base values for Normal quality produce. For higher quality produce, multipliers are as follows:

• Normal: 100%
• Nice: 110%
• Very Nice: 150%
• Great: 200%
• Excellent: 250%
• Outstanding: 300%
• Perfect: 400%

Produce sold to the grocery store sells for 10% higher than selling it through your inventory.

** Experience: Numbers given are [experience for planting/experience for harvesting].

*** Max Produce: This is the maximum amount of produce that a plant will bear before it is permamently barren.

Quality

Each plant (and its produce) has varying levels of quality.

Degrees of Quality

These are listed in order of worst quality to best quality.

• Horrifying
• Putrid
• Foul
• Bad
• Normal
• Nice
• Very Nice
• Great
• Excellent
• Outstanding
• Perfect

The quality of the plants that your sims plant will determine the quality of the food (harvestable) that it produces. A Very Nice Apple Tree will produce Very Nice Apples.

If your sim has purchased the "Super Green Thumb" Lifetime Reward, whatever your sim plants will have one level of quality higher than the seed or fruit they planted.

Perfect Produce

Always plant the highest quality seeds or produce that you have available. Care well for your plants to ensure a higher quality harvest. Once you've harvested the produce, dispose of the harvested plant, and replant with the higher-quality seeds/produce from the harvest. Repeat until you have perfect plants (and thus perfect produce).

Fertilizer

Fruits as well as Fish can be used to fertilize your plants. The quality of your fertilizer is important, because a better quality fertilizer will increase the potential of your plants bearing better quality produce.

It is also important to keep this in mind: Plants with higher degrees of rarity require fertilizer of the same degree of rarity. For example, I always fertilize my Life Plant with either a Perfect Life Fruit, or a Perfect Lobster.

Suggested Fertilizers for Common Plants

Fruit: Any fruit Fish: Any fish

Suggested Fertilizers for Uncommon Plants

Fruit: Uncommon Fruit and above Fish: Rarity level 3 and above [Fish Rarity can be found in your Skill Journal]

Suggested Fertilizers for Rare Plants

Fruit: Rare Fruit and above Fish: Rarity level 6 and above [Fish Rarity can be found in your Skill Journal]

Suggested Fertilizers for Special Plants

Fruit: Special Fruit and above Fish: Lobster or Vampire Fish

Other Tips

To keep your gardening sim in a good mood, it's suggested that you upgrade your Home stereo to reroute the speakers through the entire house. This lets your sims hear music no matter where they are on the lot, even when gardening! They'll get a +30 moodlet if it's playing their favorite style of music. It's been said that this also helps plants grow.

Purchasing the sprinkler from the Appliances section in Buy Mode will make watering your plants easier. Much like the sprinkler in the Sims 2, you can water your plants all at once, even when you're away from the house by clicking "Turn On." You can even upgrade the sprinkler if you have a high enough Handling Skill to Water Automatically. This way you'll never have to water your plants again!