Cookie Clicker Gardens Guide

Do you love Cookie Clicker? Do you also love gardening? If so, then Cookie Clicker Gardens is the game for you! In this game, you are tasked with running a garden and harvesting cookies. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, it can be a bit tricky to figure out everything that the game has to offer. That’s why we’ve put together this guide! In it, we will discuss all of the basics of Cookie Clicker Gardens, as well as some tips and tricks to help you succeed. So what are you waiting for? Start reading!

Garden Basics/Unlocking the Garden Minigame

To get access to the garden minigame, you will need to spend one sugar lump on an improvement that brings all of your farms to level one:

When you have cooked one billion cookies in total, you will unlock the Sugar Lump achievement. Your garden will continue to expand as you level up your farms, up to level 9, at which point it will reach its maximum size of 6 squares by 6 squares. At the beginning of the game, you will only have access to the Baker’s Wheat seed. However, the remaining 33 of the game’s total seeds may be obtained by crossbreeding, which is explained in more detail in the following sections.

Breeding Your First new Plant

• First, while the game was idle, weeds may have grown in your garden, so click the ‘Harvest All’ tool on the left side of your garden to clean all plants. Some weeds may leave “Brown Mold” or “Crumbspore” behind. Click to remove them for now. For now, disregard them.
• Plant Baker’s Wheat in rows, leaving one row between each row (shown in picture below). Not the most effective technique to plant, but it’ll do. This document contains more efficient settings.

The generation of Thumbcorn requires a plot that is either completely vacant or has at least two mature baker’s wheat plants in each of the eight plots that surround it. The list of recipes that follow provide other combinations for various plants that may be used.

• If you don’t fill your whole garden (because you don’t have enough cookies or anything), make sure no plots are flanked by empty plots. This is weed-growing territory. If you don’t have enough cookies to plant enough plants, check your garden every few minutes and eradicate weeds.
• Once you’ve planted all of your Baker’s Wheat, switch to fertiliser to have the plants grow quicker. Plants must be ripe to develop new mutations (like Thumbcorn). Fertilizer increases weed growth, so eradicate them if they appear.
• Once Baker’s Wheat is mature, switch to wood chips if enabled (you need 300 farms to use wood chips). If you don’t have wood chips, use fertiliser or earth to avoid weeds. Wood chips cause ordinary plant growth but 3x more mutations.
• Now wait for Thumbcorn to materialise. Each tick, each vacant plot with at least 2 mature Baker’s Wheat plants in its 8 neighbours has a chance to produce a Thumbcorn plant.
• If Thumbcorn spawns, wonderful! Not yet. Mature plants only yield seeds when uprooted. Wait until the Thumbcorn is mature (8-10 minutes with fertiliser), then harvest the seeds.

• As soon as you have the plant’s seeds in your possession, you are free to plant that plant whenever and however often you choose.
• Replant your garden if a Thumbcorn plant doesn’t reproduce and your Baker’s Wheats die.
• Following these instructions should unlock Thumbcorn in 30 minutes. Baker’s Wheat and Thumbcorn may be used to breed Cronerice, which can then be used to breed other things. Below are some information about new plant probability and needs. Here’s the cookie clicker Discord. Many competent individuals are likely to aid.

Recipes for Plant Mutations

The following is a list of all of the conceivable combinations of crops grown nearby that, when planted in a plot that is now vacant, may result in the production of the new crop that was just described. Each plot has eight surrounding plots that contain neighbouring crops. The probability for each mutation are represented as decimals and may be found in the table (more info below). Unless otherwise mentioned (like when it states ‘any,’ for example), all values are to be understood to correspond to that specific number of mature harvests. You may also check out the great chart that @Johanson69 created, which can be seen here. With version 2.0106, each and every mutation that is described below, as well as the probability, have been brought up to date.

Baker’s Wheat

• 2x Baker’s wheat (0.2)
• 2x Thumbcorn (0.05)

Thumbcorn

• 2x Baker’s wheat (0.05)
• 2x Thumbcorn (0.1)
• 2x Cronerice (0.02)

Cronerice

• 1x Baker’s Wheat, 1x Thumbcorn (0.01)

Bakeberry

• 2x Baker’s Wheat (0.001)

Gildmillet

• 1x Cronerice, 1x Thumbcorn (0.03)

Clover

• 1x Baker’s Wheat, 1x Gildmillet (0.03)
• 2x mature Clover, less than 5x total clover (0.007)

Golden Clover

• 1x Baker’s Wheat, 1x Gildmillet (0.0007)
• 2x mature Clover, less than 5x total clover (0.0001)
• 4x or more Clover (0.0007)

Shimmerlily

• 1x Clover, 1x Gildmillet (0.02)

Elderwort

• 1x Shimmerlily, 1x Cronerice (0.01)
• 1x Wrinklegill, 1x Cronerice (0.002)

Chocoroot

• 1x Baker’s Wheat, 1x any Brown Mold (0.1)

White Chocoroot

• 1x Chocoroot, 1x any White Mildew (0.1)

Brown Mold

• 1x White Mildew, 1x or less any Brown Mold (0.5)

White Mildew

• 1x Brown Mold, 1x or less any White Mildew (0.5)

Meddleweed

• 1x Mature Meddleweed, no more than 3x total Meddleweed (0.15)

Nursetulip

• 2x Whiskerbloom (0.05)

Whiskerbloom

• 1x Shimmerlily, 1x White Chocoroot (0.01)

Chimerose

• 1x Shimmerlily, 1x Whiskerbloom (0.05)
• 2x Chimerose (0.005)

Drowsyfern

• 1x Chocoroot, 1x Keenmoss (0.005)

Wardlichen

• 1x Cronerice, 1x Keenmoss (0.005)
• 1x Cronerice, 1x White Mildew (0.005)

NOTE: It is often recommended to make use of Keenmoss in order to acquire Wardlichen rather than White Mildew due to the increased likelihood of Brown Mold being produced by White Mildew.

Keenmoss

• 1x Green Rot, 1x Brown Mold (0.1)
• Exactly 1x Mature Keenmoss, 0x other Keenmoss (0.05)

Queenbeet

• 1x Bakeberry, 1x Chocoroot (0.01)

Juicy Queenbeet

• 8x Queenbeet (0.001)

Duketater

• 2x Queenbeet (0.001)

Crumbspore

• 1x Mature Crumbspore, 0x other Crumbspore (0.07)
• 2x Doughshroom (0.005)

Glovemorel

• 1x Crumbspore, 1x Thumbcorn (0.01)

Cheapcap

• 1x Crumbspore, 1x Shimmerlily (0.03)

Fool Bolete

• 1x Doughshroom, 1x Green Rot (0.02)

Doughshroom

• 2x Crumbspore (0.005)

• 1x mature Doughshroom, 0x other Doughshroom (0.07)

Wrinklegill

• 1x Crumbspore, 1x Brown Mold (0.06)

Green Rot

• 1x White Mildew, 1x Clover (0.05)

Shriekbulb

• 1 Wrinklegill, 1x Elderwort (0.001)
• 5x Elderwort (0.001)
• 3x Any Duketater (0.005)
• 4x Any Doughshrom (0.002)
• 5x Queenbeet (0.001)

• Exactly 1x Mature Shriekbulb, 0x other Shriekbulb (0.005)

Tidygrass

• 1x Baker’s Wheat, 1x White Chocoroot (0.002)

Everdaisy

• 3x Tidygrass, 3x Elderwort (0.002)

Ichorpuff

• 1x Elderwort, 1x Crumbspore (0.002)

Generating Meddleweed, Brown Mold, and Crumbspore

According to the list that was just shown, you may have noticed that Meddleweed is the only organism capable of producing itself, while Brown Mold and White Mildew are the only organisms capable of producing each other. This is due to the fact that they are really formed in the beginning by a different method:

Every time a tick passes, there is a 0.2 percent chance that meddleweed will spawn in a feasible weed-spawning plot. One of the requirements for a valid weed-spawning plot is that none of the eight nearby plots include any other types of plants. It is important to keep in mind that this indicates that weeds may still proliferate on the perimeter of the garden as long as all of the plots that are located around them continue to be vacant. It is possible for it to spread after it has already been created, according to the list of mutations that was previously presented. If you fertilise the soil, you will see a significant increase in the number of times that weeds reproduce.

When Meddleweed is harvested, it may generate Brown Mold or Crumbspore. Both of these spores are toxic. The more mature the Meddleweed plant was at the time it was collected, the higher the probability that it would have produced one of them. To the best of my knowledge, harvesting a plant and having it expire are two entirely different things, and if the Meddleweed plant expires, it will not generate Brown Mold or Crumbspore. The following is the precise formula for calculating the likelihood of producing one of these:

If (random value between 0 and 1) < (0.2*(age/100)) 

then spawn either Brown Mold or Crumbspore (50% chance for each)

Plant Mutation Mechanics

• Empty plot mutations are determined on a tick-by-tick basis
• In order to generate novel mutations, only ripe crops are considered (for the most part, see the next bullet point). To impede the spread of other forms of fungus, weeds and fungi do not need to be fully ripe, but they do need to be fully grown in order to reproduce.
• Mutations may occur in immature plants as well as adult ones. The above list of mutations details the occurrences in question.
• To get weeds, you must have no other plants in any of the eight surrounding plots.
• Every time a tick occurs, a mutation has a chance to appear in an empty plot. The following are the stages involved in creating a mutation:

• First, the above list generates a list of potential mutations and their probabilities (also listed above)
• Random numbers between 0 and 1 are created for each mutation.
• If this random number is less than the mutation’s likelihood AND THE CHOSEN MUTATION IS NOT A WEED OR THE RANDOM NUMBER IS LESS THAN THE SOIL’S WEED MULTIPLIER, THAT MUTATION IS ADDED TO AN UNWEIGHTED LIST. Only Meddleweed grows in the game. Fungi include mildew and mould.
• One random mutation from that list is formed in the empty plot.
• This method loops the plot grid once, except for wood chips. Three times for wood chips.

• The above list is used to construct a list of potential mutations and their probabilities (also listed above)
• For each mutation, a random 0-1 number is created.
• If the random number is less than the mutation’s probability AND the mutation is not a weed OR the random number is less than the soil’s weed multiplier, the mutation is added to an unweighted list. The only weed is Meddleweed. Mildew and mould are fungi.
• From that list, a random mutation is formed in the empty plot.
• All soil types except wood chips are looped once in this procedure. Wood chips are 3 times looped.

Efficient Plant Arrangements for Breeding

The Japanese Cookie Clicker wiki has some very helpful images showing efficient way to arrange plants for breeding.  For mutations which require two plants of the same type, the following arrangements are useful:

Orange squares are plants and white squares are spawning areas. The farm level above each figure is optimum for that arrangement. For mutations requiring two parent plants, try these arrangements:

The red Xs in the image above indicate possible mutations. Unwanted mutations occur from two parents. In the level 9 illustration, all four red X’s are plots with two orange neighbour plots, thus if a plant is generated from two orange parents (which plant is orange in your circumstance depends on which plants you use and which you put in the green and orange plots), it will be orange.

Soil Type Data

• The effect multiplies the passive effects of plants
• The weed multiplier affects how likely weeds are to spawn in the soil
• When using clay with Ichorpuff plants, it is possible to reverse aging in plants

The different soil types are unlocked by owning a certain number of farms:

• Dirt -0
• Fertilizer – 50
• Clay -100
• Pebbles – 200
• Wood Chips – 300

You are only allowed to change the kind of soil you are growing in once every ten minutes; however, you may pay a sugar lump to reset this limit and change types instantaneously. Investing a sugar lump in this endeavour causes plants to proliferate and mutate three times faster during the next tick.

Plant Data

The table that was located in this location before has become out of current, and the chart that was provided by @Johanson69 is more attractive anyhow. Look at the chart on this page.

Plant Cost

The following equation is used to determine how much a plant will cost:

Cost = MAX(costM, CpS*cost*60)

This indicates that once CpS reaches a specific level (which varies depending on the crop), costM no longer has any bearing on the situation.

Plant Aging

The ages of all of the crops in the field are brought up to date at the beginning of each tick. The following equation determines an increase in it:

Because integer operations always make use of the floor function implicitly, newAge is always an integer, which means that it always returns a round value. This has the effect of preventing specific plants from ageing at all during a particular tick if the age increment for those plants is less than 1.

If the age of a plant is larger than or equal to the age at which the plant reaches maturity, the plant is said to be in stage4 of its maturity (mature). If its age is larger than or equal to the maturity age * 0.666, then it has reached stage 3 (bloom). If its age is higher than or equal to the maturity age * 0.333, then it has reached stage 2 (sprout) (bud).

Contamination

Meddleweed, Doughshroom, and Crumbspore are the only plants in the game that are presently affected by the mechanism known as contamination (‘contam’ in the chart of plant data above). It gives these plants the ability to take over nearby plots, despite the fact that such plots may already contain other plants. Only in these four cardinal directions may contamination take place (up, down, left, right).

• Elderwort
• Queenbeet
• Juicy Queenbeet
• Duketater
• Crumbspore
• Doughshroom
• Shriekbulb
• Everdaisy

It should be noted that doughshroom and crumbspore are capable of contaminating other plants but cannot themselves get contaminated by other plants.

The specific chain of events that leads to contamination is a pretty complicated one, however the general flow of events goes as follows:

• Check on each individual section of the garden once every tick.
• Continue with the process if there is a plant in that plot, provided the plant is not resistant to contamination.
• Roll a random number between 0 and 1 for each plant that has the potential to spread contamination.
• Add the plant to a list if that number is lower than the facility’s contamination number.
• Once the list of plants that might potentially cause contamination has been compiled, choose at random one plant from that list.
• The possibility of contamination for that plant exists in each of the four cardinal directions, as a result.

Since, to tell you the truth, I do not have a complete understanding of this mechanism, I do not have many more details than this that I can readily describe. Be aware, however, that if you have a plant that has reached maturity and is capable of contaminating other plants, then other plants that are adjacent it in any of the four cardinal directions might be overrun by it. If anybody is interested in taking a look, the code that pertains to version 2.006 can be found right here.