Greenhouse building

[skipsmooth]

hello, fellow Simmers:

I would like to build a greenhouse for my Sim to grow plants year round (I have all Seasons set, and my Sim is a Green Thumb).  Any suggestions and advice would be very much appreciated.  Thanks.

[Magz from Oz]

If you have the Stones Throw Greenhouse venue from the Sims Store it's all there for you.  Unfortunately this venue gives your Sim the 'unfinished' moodlet because there is no floor to the building so your Sim can plant directly into the dirt.  I add in the earth rugs from "Into the Future" expansion packs.  I use whatever is the floor tile from my Sim's house and then use the rugs to cover that. 

If you have none of these items or the expansion packs, you can use still grow harvestables anywhere under any roof.  You will need to spend a lot of time and fertilizers to maintain and water the vegetable patch though.

This is a screenshot from my current story.  As I have the aforementioned venue and expansion pack, this is how my greenhouses look.  I use the 3x Window (I think that one is a base game build item called Regifted Window?) to allow more daylight into the greenhouse.  The dimensions are 12x6 to allow the use of the greenhouse roof tiles. 



You will notice that I use the SwiftGro Gardening Stations because they are a tremendous boon to gardeners.  I use the Plants Vz Zombies^TM Sunflower (comes with the venue) which produces sunlights.  Once a day, I put three sunlights into the composter and voilà, instant water, fertilize and weeding!

There is a thread on this forum about building one of these Stones Throw Greenhouses.  Look for it under the Member Info and Sim Announcements/EA and Community Announcements.  I hope this answers some of your questions.

[skipsmooth]

Thanks for such valuable info, Magz from Oz.  I was thinking of using overhead sprinklers to water the plants.  Do they work like the outdoor ground sprinklers?  Could they be upgraded to auto-water?

[Magz from Oz]

The ground sprinklers you're thinking of are unnecessary if you have the SwiftGro Gardening Station.  Also, as far as I know, they can only be used on the ground but you could try it with the 'moveobjects on' cheat.

There are sprinklers on the SwiftGro Gardening Stations and they turn on automatically at 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM but there is an option to water anytime you select the Station.  Especially do this immediately after you plant life fruit or money trees.  Waiting for the automatic sprinkler may kill those plants.  The first time you see the automatic sprinklers, it's a bit of a surprise.  You'd think there's been some sort of explosion because of the flash of light.  The stations are an all-in-one water/weed/fertilise if you use the Sunlights in the composter.  The only drawback is the lighting which is very poor so I use the buydebug cheat to install the round tomb light.

If you don't own this venue and love gardening as a skill, consider buying it from the Sims Store.  Or at least the SwiftGrow Gardening Station.  I've seen several items of Premium Content up for sale separately of its venue since Sims 4 came out.

SwiftGro Gardening Station
http://store.thesims3.com/productDetail.html?productId=OFB-SIM3:58194

Stones Throw Greenhouse Set
http://store.thesims3.com/setsProductDetails.html?productId=OFB-SIM3:58192

[skipsmooth]

Thanks, Magz from Oz.

I actually had gone ahead and bought the venue Stones Throw Greenhouse since I had enough Sims Points to do so.  I downloaded and installed it through the launcher.  But then when I loaded my game, I couldn't find it anywhere!  I looked in Buy and Build modes, as well as the buydebug cheat mode.  Nothing!  I don't know where else to look.  HELP!  lol 

[MrsFlynn]

With Sims 3 Store items, it will usually have a See More Details link and then tab that gives you information like it's location:

    Sort by Room->Study->Hobbies & Skills
    Sort by Room->Outdoors->Outdoor Activities
    Sort by Room->Outdoors->Lawn Ornaments
    Sort by Function->Plumbing->Miscellaneous Plumbing
    Sort by Function->Décor->Sculptures
    Sort by Function->Décor->Miscellaneous Décor

It's under the Manual tab for the SwiftGro Gardening Station

I jumped in-game to see if I could find it - (Click image to see larger view)



Buy mode > By Room > BBQ tab (last tab) > Flamingo > Then scroll down to about middle of that list to find it.

[skipsmooth]

Thanks once again Mrs. Flynn for coming to my rescue.  You have helped me multiple times previously.   

[MrsFlynn]

You're welcome!!

[skipsmooth]

Ahhh....one last question.

I was able to put together a nice greenhouse, but I need ceiling tiles.  In her first response above, Magz from Oz mentioned using greenhouse roof tiles.  I looked and I was unable to find one to use on greenhouse.  Are there roof tiles specifically for greenhouses or would I just use any ceiling tile?

[MrsFlynn]

You can use the roof pieces that came with the venue. Or you can just use plain roofing, like you do when building a regular house.

Here's how to find the roof pieces to the green house - (Click image to see larger view)



Buy mode > BBQ tab > Roofing

You may ? need to put some kind of floor tiling down under those roof pieces so the weather can be kept out. I usually use free wood flooring to put under the roofing. It makes for good ceiling tiles too.

I've created green houses with a regular roof and wood flooring and used flower pots. I've also made one without flooring. Either way I had to use moveobjects to move the plants into the flower pots or inside the green house or else they won't go inside.

[skipsmooth]

Thanks again, Mrs Flynn.  It was funny that even though the greenhouse roof sections went onto the top, they didn't really "keep the rain out."  I found this out when I had my Sim meditate in there and he got soaked.  That surprised me.  Lol  I'll just use regular ceiling tiles underneath the roof sections.

I really like Magz from Oz idea regarding the floor.  I put down regular floor tiles and then put "grass rug" pieces over them since I do have the Back to The Future expansion.  Very cool!

This is it - for now.  I've been playing Sims 3 for years, but every now and then I discover new things which I had yet to use or come across.  So until next time.....

Skip

[Magz from Oz]

@skipsmooth

To stop the rain coming in, use the first §3 per tile 'simple floor' from the 'wood floor' section as the greenhouse roof.  Just go 'Page up' to get to the roof level of the greenhouse and place the floor tiles as if you were placing a floor preparatory to building another level.  Except don't build walls, but place the greenhouse roof pieces straight on top of the floor instead.  When you place the greenhouse roof pieces, that particular wooden floor becomes transparent and lets in the light but keeps the rain out.