Making lots of money trees

[Amber Lokisdotter]

There's an interesting way I've found of making lots of money trees, without using a cheat, without using a cloning device, without using Copypasto, and without moving your money tree into your home inventory.  (All of which I know are possible, yes.) 

It is simply this: Grafting.

If you take a cutting from a money tree (this does mean you'll have to buy one seed), you can graft it onto another plant in your garden, preferably one that is harvestable during all seasons.  I used Sage and Wolfsbane, but ymmv.  When the fruits are available to harvest, your Sims will harvest money seeds, rather than selling them automatically.  You can them plant those seeds and make more money trees... which you can take cuttings of and graft to more plants.  If you have a few plants with money tree cuttings grafted to them, you can end up with a huge orchard full of money trees in practically no time at all.  (I play my games with 4 week seasons, and using long life spans, so for me it feels like no time at all.)

An orchard with 25 money trees will net you over $500,000 per day.  Using this method you only need to have the gardening skill and use grafting.

I've never seen this information on any other site, nor heard it mentioned on any YouTube channel, although it seems strange to me that no one would have ever discovered this for themselves.  I figured it out purely by accident, while working on the Botanist aspiration with a Sim.  It seems like something that anyone trying to do a game where they become rich quick (or become rich and want it to continue indefinitely and easily) would want to know about.

[scoed]

@Amber Lokisdotter The best choice to graft a money harvestable like money trees is the humble trash plant. There is a rarity multiplier in harvestable fruit. All fruit have an rarity weight. 500 weight for common, 100 for uncommon, and 1 for rare. That means if a rare is spliced onto or has a common such as sage spiced onto it only 1 in 500 fruits would be the rare such as money fruit. So wolfsbane is uncommon so only 1 in a hundred will be the spiced money fruit. Trash plants are rare so the grafted plant will produce at a rate on 1 to 1. Trash plants beat other rare plants out for this use as all plant grow faster and produce more fruit in season outdoors vs indoors. Thing is most rare plants only have one or two seasons they are active outdoors. Both money trees and trash fruit are active year round outdoors. That means the trash plant will have max effectiveness year round out doors so no need to rotate them indoors to continue harvesting of the money fruit unlike other rare plants. Money plants have one more unique quality making it a great choice, it has one of the fastest grow times of any plant in game. That means it will be productive faster than any other plant after splicing. Plus it is free to obtain just drop trash outdoors on your lot and it will become a trash plant. Free is good. Lastly they fit four per a large planter unlike the actual money tree which is limited to one per a large planter. This means per large planter four money tree grafted trash plants will out produce one money tree grown in that same box.

It does have three small issues. First trash plants can on occasion produce an +1 uncomfortable moodlet. And secondly trash fruit is the lowest value fruit in game and are rarely useful in the cooking skills, mixology, scientist career, herbology, or casters potion making, though it does have some uses here and there in these areas. Trash fruit is edible. Third issue is unlike other plants that have a green ecofootprint tash plants have an industrial ecofootprint. But it's raw productivity is so much better than most other plants for splicing prepossess and it is so easy to obtain I still think it is the best choice for money fruit off money tree production.

The other strong choice is Bonsai plants. It grows and evolves slower and can't be had for free but otherwise has many of the same characteristics of the trash plant and minus the uncomfortable moodlet issue and the industrial ecofootprint issues. Its fruit has even fewer uses then the trash plant though sells for much more. I just think trash fruit is so much cooler.

I have several posts here on the fun relationships on grafting (money fruit and otherwise) and the excellence in choosing trash plants. I have seen so many guides trashing the humble trash plant. I have to post it's benefits every chance I get, like right now. If used right to is a gardener's secret weapon to get out of season fruit outdoors production and making money fruit harvestable and quickly using grafting. Honestly I love the humble trash plant. Anyone bashing it in guides just don't understand how broken it is when used as a grafting platform. Started day one for free the plant can easily be perfect by the time you obtain a money tree to take a cutting off of producing perfect money fruit the fastest way possible. Think of this outside of your reward points

[Amber Lokisdotter]

@scoed: That's a good point.  I never bother with trash plants, since I never saw a use for them.  When considering the ratios, yeah, I can see it. 

I have a mod that changes those ratios considerably, which is one reason I didn't think about that.  I don't remember where I got the idea from (I think it may have been Carl in one of his videos, but not sure), but I decided to change the values for myself.  The ratios for me are closer to 1:1:1, no matter how rare or common a particular type of fruit is.  That's what the ratios were at game launch, and I prefer to keep it that way.    Even though I don't do grafting all that frequently, when I do graft, I want it to actually be useful.

So I take it that others HAVE done this before.  It had seemed to me to be too obvious a thing to be missed, yet I've never seen mention of this anywhere.  Carl has mentioned in his videos doing the trick where you put a fruiting money tree into your house inventory; that works, but it's a bit of a pita, because you have to drag the fruits out one by one.  Not so with grafting; those fruits go straight into your Sim's personal inventory.  Plus with the former, you have to do it every time you want more money seeds.  This way they just keep coming and coming, as long as you bother to have the spliced plant in your garden.

[scoed]

@Amber Lokisdotter I was wondering how you easily got 25 money trees off of a sage and a wolfsbane plant in one sims life span. With sage you would be lucky to get one a year and wolfsbane once a season. Mods are great it allows to add or remove features we do or don't like. Until I figured out the greatness of the humble trash plant I was thinking of modding the ratios out of my game as well as the point of grafting kinda dies with that patch minus the trash plant.

Yes it is a known strategy. But you are right it is not mentioned in any non-video guides I have seen. It can be found on this forum and in the sims 4 official one though and in the gallery there are gardens that exploit it. Do you know what else in gardening I can't find? a list of what plants actually grow on the vertical garden planter. I have to trial and error it every time I use them. That is a guide I would use. I haven't seen the list anywhere.

[Amber Lokisdotter]

@scoed: I play with four-week-long seasons, and I set my played Sims to not age.  I do have mods, but I don't think I have any that change the rate at which things grow... although I might and just not remember that I do.  Or one of my mods may sneak that in and I don't realize it.  It only takes a few days for plants to grow, generally, and I don't notice that any plants take longer than others, although I've heard people in videos and read that some of them do.  I've just never seen it in my own games, so yeah, maybe a mod is doing it that I'm unaware of. 

I was playing a challenge referred to as the "one tomato" challenge; your Sim starts off with an empty lot with the off-the-grid trait, and one tomato, and nothing else.  You use a cheat code to remove all simoleons, and then start from there.  The only way the Sim can make money is through gardening; that includes using money trees, but doesn't include selling any of the harvests you get from plants you harvest from the wild.  In fact, any harvests you get from wild plants need to be either eaten or replanted, and you're not allowed to travel out of your own immediate neighborhood, so I was stuck with plants that grew during the Spring in Newcrest.  That meant, iirc, bluebells and... strawberries, I think?  I fished up apples, as well, so was able to plant those.  In the summer and autumn there were other plants in the wild; lilies were one, but I don't recall what else.  Maybe that was all.  I do remember that the plants that grew there were the right ones that would eventually allow me to hybrid them to dragon fruits, which are super expensive, and ended up being my most profitable plants.

When you turn aging off, and have long seasons, you don't really need to worry about how much time passes.  I certainly never do.  Yeah, it's like playing a game on Easy Mode, but I play games to relax, not to stress myself out. 

Heck, in Sims 3 I always set variable season lengths; because where I live irl there are long summers and no winters, I always used to set my years to have 28 days in summer, 21 days in spring, 14 days in autumn, and 7 days in winter.  If I could do the same in Sims 4, I'd do it.

Just remembered that I *do* have a mod that makes it so that plants on my own lot are always all-season.  Doesn't affect wild plants, but that might be what's throwing you off.  I have that mod because that's the way plants were in Sims 3, and that's what I prefer.  As I mentioned earlier, that's what it's like where I live, and so that's what I feel is more realistic.  Some people use mods to make things more realistic; to me, that's more realistic, because it's what I'm used to in real life.

[Brian_Z]

@scoed I did not know about those ratios you mentioned.  No wonder it's such a pain in the butt getting your first dragonfruit, or orchid, or whatever!  I've done the grafting a money tree trick before, and I remember getting money fruit out of it pretty much every day.  But I don't remember what I grafted it to, it might have been a dragonfruit.

[scoed]

@Brian_Z it has been that way since the seasons patch. It used to not be weighted at all before that. Many thought it was a bug but it was confirmed a feature on Twitter. Seasons completely changed how one must garfern to max profit. It is my favorite skill as a thousand small things matter and it is connected to several other systems and and other skills. It is easily the second best money maker in the game, which is full of broken money makers. (Sorry, not counting cheats nothing comes close to being a caster for cash, I mean nothing.) This change made the grafting recipes next to useless as as most go Graft common to an uncommon to get a rare. That rare on a plant with common and common fruit dropping it well below 1 and 500 ratio if it was just on the common plant alone. These numbers are coming from Carl. Thus this is why it is better to get rare plants through other means like rare seed packs rather than grafting. Only reason to graft is to make production of seasonal crops year round, to harvest money fruit to plant, and to get perfect fruit faster. Trash Plants are the an excellent candidate for all of these things.

@Amber Lokisdotter I don't play with aging off but my sims only age if I wish them too. So yes there is no pressure on time, it is just I have to force myself not to min/max my sims. This is silly as the sims is a game where having a dusty house can make you rich, and death usually has to be sought out. Trust the man with a ghost collection about this. (I have a ghost from each death in the game in one save. This is the hardest thing I have done in the game and I have had sims go to the top of each career, master each skill, and complete each asperation before.)

I never heard of the one tomato challenge. Sounds fun. Trash plant would be the hero of an unmodded go of it. Winter would be a rough month for money as until you get some of the uncommon plants you can't wild harvest like holly, or get rich enough to build an indoor growing area your winter income will be zero. Trach plants plus grafting would be key in early game as trash plants can me had for free. just raid the trash cans for trash piles to grow them from. in fact as an early income the trash fruit itself could be useful. $2 a fruit is low income but it is better then $0. I think I am going to make a go of this challenge.

For those who are interested I looked on the internet for the rules and this is the link I found. https://miaskywalker.weebly.com/tomato-rules-sims4.html

[scoed]

@Johncollins111 It isn't a bug so no need to fix it. Money is stupid easy in the game. This is actually a middlish way to break the bank. If desired I can get max money in 4 sim days. But yes grafting money tree still works.

[Jeanpierre123]

In my Sims game, I enjoy playing with four-week-long seasons while ensuring my played Sims don't age. I do use mods, although I can't recall if any of them alter the growth rate of things. Perhaps I have a mod that sneaked in without my knowledge. However, I haven't noticed any significant variations in plant growth times, despite hearing about it from others. Maybe there's a hidden mod responsible for it.

Lately, I've been immersed in the "one tomato" challenge, which starts with an empty off-the-grid lot and only one tomato. To make things more challenging, I use a cheat code to remove all simoleons and start from scratch. The sole income source for my Sim is gardening, including the use of money trees. However, I can't sell any harvests from wild plants; instead, I must either eat them or replant them. Additionally, I'm restricted from venturing beyond my immediate neighborhood, so I rely on the plants that grow during the spring in Newcrest. I believe there were bluebells and strawberries, and I managed to fish up some apples that I planted as well. Other plants appeared in the summer and autumn, such as lilies, but I can't recall the full list. Luckily, I eventually grew dragon fruits, which turned out to be my most profitable plants.

When I disable aging and extend the length of the seasons, I find myself less concerned about the passage of time. It's akin to playing on Easy Mode, but that's precisely what I prefer. Games are meant to help me relax, not induce stress.

Speaking of seasons, in Sims 3, I used to set variable season lengths. Since my real-life location lacks winters but experiences long summers, I customized the game to have 28 days in summer, 21 days in spring, 14 days in autumn, and 7 days in winter. If I had the option in Sims 4, I would certainly do the same.

By the way, I just remembered I have a mod installed that ensures plants on my own lot thrive in all seasons. Although it doesn't affect wild plants, it aligns with my preference. This mod replicates the behavior of plants in Sims 3, which mirrors the climate where I reside and feels more realistic to me. For some players, mods enhance realism, and in my case, this particular mod brings the game closer to my real-life experiences.

[emilylar]

Interesting, I'll try it soon. Thanks for sharing!

[makaylakylie19]

In my Sims game, I enjoy playing with four-week-long seasons while ensuring my played Sims don't age. I do use mods, although I can't recall if any of them alter the growth rate of things. Perhaps I have a mod that sneaked in without my knowledge. However, I haven't noticed any significant variations in plant growth times, despite hearing about it from others. Maybe there's a hidden mod responsible for it.

Lately, I've been immersed in the "one tomato" challenge, which starts with an empty off-the-grid lot and only one tomato. To make things more challenging, I use a cheat code to remove all simoleons and start from scratch. The sole income source for my Sim is gardening, including the use of money trees  . However, I can't sell any harvests from wild plants; instead, I must either eat them or replant them. Additionally, I'm restricted from venturing beyond my immediate neighborhood, so I rely on the plants that grow during the spring in Newcrest. I believe there were bluebells and strawberries, and I managed to fish up some apples that I planted as well. Other plants appeared in the summer and autumn, such as lilies, but I can't recall the full list. Luckily, I eventually grew dragon fruits, which turned out to be my most profitable plants.

When I disable aging and extend the length of the seasons, I find myself less concerned about the passage of time. It's akin to playing on Easy Mode, but that's precisely what I prefer. Games are meant to help me relax, not induce stress.

Speaking of seasons, in Sims 3, I used to set variable season lengths. Since my real-life location lacks winters but experiences long summers, I customized the game to have 28 days in summer, 21 days in spring, 14 days in autumn, and 7 days in winter. If I had the option in Sims 4, I would certainly do the same.

By the way, I just remembered I have a mod installed that ensures plants on my own lot thrive in all seasons. Although it doesn't affect wild plants, it aligns with my preference. This mod replicates the behavior of plants in Sims 3, which mirrors the climate where I reside and feels more realistic to me. For some players, mods enhance realism, and in my case, this particular mod brings the game closer to my real-life experiences.

It sounds like you've created a fascinating and unique gameplay experience in your Sims world! Your approach to customizing the game to suit your preferences is a fantastic way to enjoy the game on your own terms.
The "one tomato" challenge you've taken on seems both fun and challenging. Starting with minimal resources and building your Sim's life from the ground up can be quite rewarding. It's also great to hear that you've found ways to make it even more realistic with mods like the one that ensures plants thrive in all seasons.
I'm also thinking of using a couple of mods to increase the realism of the game.