The Sims 4 features a ton of awesome activities for its players, many of which can be used to make quick money in addition to great bonuses. The gardening skill is one of these activities, but it can be tricky to level up early on in the game.
Grafting in Sims 4 is unlocked after hitting level 5 in the gardening skill. Players will be able to graft numerous plants together to create money-making plants or to gain unique results.
While gardening and grafting in The Sims 4 may seem intimidating, it can be pretty simple with the right approaches. Stick around to find out everything you need to know about gardening and grafting in the Sims 4, as well as why this skill should be on your bucket list.
Sims 4 Gardening & Grafting
Players will need to grind gardening in order to make the most of its benefits, as it can be useful for getting money in the game. The gardening skill can be used for plenty of things in-game, but one of the best advantages is the ability to create new and unique plants.
In the real world, grafting is known as a horticultural technique, incorporating various tissue of plants to join and combine numerous strains of plants and greenery. The concept of grafting in the Sims 4 is no different, except that the players will be using fictional plants to obtain fictional outcomes.
Players will need to work on gardening until they hit level 5, after which grafting will be unlocked. All of the plants in the Sims 4 can be grafted together to create something new, but only 11 specific combinations will create unique results.
Below are the basics of the grafting activity in the Sims 4, with images and stats thanks to Sim Guided:
Growth Times
Other than UFO plants, the plants in Sims 4 will take anywhere between 24 and 96 hours to grow and be harvested. Depending on the species, the plant will produce either herbs, flowers, spices, or fruit.
All of these growth times are based on in-game time, but it will still affect how quickly you’ll be able to gain your results. For this reason, it’s often best to use clippings of plants with shorter growth times for grafting recipes.
Grafting Results
Grafting multiple plants together creates a hybrid plant, which has attributes of the plants used to create it. However, the more you graft, the less valuable the plant’s produce will be – it’s best to keep grafting to a minimum for the best yield possible.
There are also some unique grafting results that can be created using very specific plants, namely:
| Grafting Recipe | Unique Grafting Result |
| Strawberry + Blue Bells | Grapes |
| Sage + Basil | Parsley |
| Pear + Lemon | Plantain |
| Tulip + Chrysanthemum | Bird of Paradise |
| Daisy + Strawberry | Bonsai Buds |
| Grapes + Rose | Bonsai Buds |
| Dragon Fruit + Snapdragon | Cow Berry |
| Snapdragon + Strawberry | Dragon Fruit |
| Snapdragon + Lily | Orchid |
| Apple + Cherry | Pomegranate |
| Orchid + Pomegranate | Death Flower |
Some of these combinations are incredibly rare and highly useful. For example, a Death Flower can be given to the Grim Reaper in exchange for life when a Sim dies. Although it will need to be presented by an alternative sim – not the sim who’s dying – it’s still extremely handy to have a Death Flower in each sim’s inventory.
Cow Berries eventually grow into Cow Plants, which are certainly unique and interesting. Once they mature, players can treat them as pets – naming them, petting them, and feeding them. The Cow Plant can devour sims in some cases, but players can milk it in such instances in order to create a special potion.
Grafting & Cutting
Players would need to clip the plant that they want to graft. Players can graft a species with a short growth time with another species that has a longer growth time. This would cut down on the amount of growth time for the new grafted plant, enabling players to make more money quickly.
The plant will appear as a sprout after it is grafted, with the same level as it did before the grafting process. Each plant can only be cut 2 times before it dies – this should be monitored by either keeping tabs independently or by looking at the in-game menus.
One important thing to note is inventory organization, as you’ll need to keep an eye on which cutting is from which plant. Since there is no real way to identify the plant from a cutting, your inventory could become confusing if you stock too many cuttings at once.
Grafting Plant Requirements
Plants should be planted at least 2 spaces apart from each other for enough room. It’s important to consider how the plants are spaced out when they are planted, as players will not be able to yield any harvest if they are planted too closely together.
It’s recommended to graft plants 2 – 3 at a time since plants have 8 – 10 spots where spices, flowers, fruit, and herbs can spawn each harvest. Grafting too many unique plants into one plant will therefore reduce the chances of getting a good yield.
How Do You Become A Good Gardener In Sims 4?
At the most basic level, gardening in Sims 4 simply revolves around buying seeds, planting them, taking care of the plants, harvesting, and leveling up. But, if you have the Seasons Expansion pack, gardening can be so much more complex as you can choose it as a career.
You’d also have to monitor when each plant is planted to ensure it’s never out of season, or it will die. As mentioned, players will need to spend some time simply leveling up the gardening skill in Sims 4 before the grafting activity will become available.
Consider the following aspects while leveling up for the smoothest experience possible:
Buying Seeds
Seeds in Sims 4 can be purchased using a computer. However, when you purchase a packet of seeds, the seeds contained will be randomized – meaning there is no reliable way to get exactly which plant you want.
That being said, players can still gauge which seeds they may get by looking at the packet’s rarity, indicated by the stable at the bottom of the post. Seeds are separated between common, uncommon, and rare. Once you unlock grafting, you’ll be able to have a more reliable stock of specific species long-term.
Level Unlocks
Your sim will have to go through various levels and stages of gardening before you can unlock grafting, as seen below.:
| Lvl. | Gardening Skill Progression |
| 1 | Plant, water, harvest, weed, and sell plant items. |
| 2 | Research Gardening at any computer. This gains you the Focused Moodlet, which will help you gain more experience while using your skills. |
| 3 | Fertilize plants, which helps them evolve at a faster rate. |
| 4 | Fall and Spring plant seeds are unlocked. Talk to plants, which fills your Sims’ social needs and grants Gardening Experience. |
| 5 | Winter and Summer plant seeds are unlocked. Graft and Cutting abilities are unlocked, which lets you grow unattainable plants. |
While grafting and cutting are unlocked at level 5, players may still want to keep grinding gardening for more benefits at higher levels. There is a selection of great benefits up until level 10 gardening, such as:
| Lvl. | Gardening Skill Progression |
| 6 | Weeding abilities (area of effect) are increased to include all nearby plants. Sims gain the ability to compliment your garden. |
| 7 | Uncommon and Farmer seed packets are available for purchase. Sims unlock the Tend Garden ability, which allows them to Weed and Water the Garden by clicking on one plant. |
| 8 | Use the Super Sell ability to sell multiple plants at once. Sims can buy the ability to regrow Bonsai Trees for $50. |
| 9 | Gardening interactions become more efficient, so Sims can weed and water plants quicker. |
| 10 | Rare seeds are available for purchase at $1,000 each. |
Leveling Up In Gardening
Now That you know the basics of gardening, it’s time to start planting! Follow and repeat the steps below with numerous plant species until you unlock grafting:
- Have you Sim order seed packets using their computer.
- Open the seed packets that will appear in your Sim’s inventory. This may give you flowers or produce, rather than actual seeds.
- Drag the produce or flower that comes out of the seed packet to wherever you want to plant it. Gardens can be made on bare earth on your lot, but players can also plant them in pots.
- Select the produce or flower of choice and select “plant.”
- Water and weed the plants when necessary by checking on them. These options will appear as needed.
According to the Sims Wiki, players can also make use of other actions with gardening when needed – such as Fertilizing and Evolving to increase plant quality or even the Resurrect ability to revive dead plants.
Those are all of the most important aspects of gardening and grafting in Sims 4. While you could definitely grind up until level 10 and become the ultimate gardener in Sims 4 with the Green Thumb Achievement, there’s still plenty you can do just by hitting level 5.