Guide to Sugarcane

Sugarcane is a necessary part of Minecraft, whether you are trying to do high level enchantments, fly with your elytra, or heal zombie villagers you will need to find and grow Sugarcane. Whether this is your first time playing Minecraft or have been playing for some time, this article can help you better understand Sugarcane and its role in Minecraft.

After reading this guide you will understand where to Sugarcane generates naturally so you can find it and take it back to your base to start farming Sugarcane, and once you get a good supply of Sugarcane you will know how to put it to good use.

Where to Find Sugarcane

Sugarcane can be found in almost any biome (I have even found it in the frozen river biome), however it is 50 times more likely to grow in desert biomes and 10 times more likely to grow in swamp biomes. Sugarcane will grow right next to water, including both rivers and oceans.

If you go out exploring looking for Sugarcane, you always want to stay close to water, whether that is a rive or an ocean. The easiest way to find Sugarcane is to craft a boat and go down a river, or go around the coast. You don't want to go explore out in the middle of the ocean because it may be awhile until you find any land or blocks which Sugarcane can grow on.

How to Grow Sugarcane

Unlike other crops such as wheat, potatoes, carrots, or beetroot, Sugarcane has to be next to water and not located within the 8 by 8 radius around one water block. You can plant Sugarcane on a few different blocks including sand, dirt, or mud. There are no Sugarcane seeds, rather you plant Sugarcane by holding a single Sugarcane you want to click on the block you wish to plant your Sugarcane on.

Sugarcane Growth Rate

Once you plant your Sugarcane you need to wait for it to grow. Sugarcane grows at one block per 18 minutes in java edition, and can take around 54 minutes in bedrock edition. It does not matter what type of block you plant Sugarcane on it grows at the same rate on either sand, dirt, or mud.

Unlike other crops, Sugarcane can grow under any light condition. To compare, wheat requires a light level of nine or higher. If you are having trouble growing wheat you can learn how in this article, or if you want know how to grow wheat faster you can learn more in this article.

When to Harvest Sugarcane

Unlike other crops in Minecraft that require you to farm the crop completely out of the ground, Sugarcane grows in vertical sections. When you plant Sugarcane it will start out as one section, and it will grow vertically up to three vertical sections. Sugarcane is easier to harvest than other crops because you can cut off the top two sections and the Sugarcane with remain planted. You don't have to go back through to replant the Sugarcane after harvesting.

You can harvest Sugarcane when it is either two blocks high and receive one Sugarcane or when its three bocks high and receive two Sugarcanes. If you harvest the bottom block of the Sugarcane, your Sugarcane will no longer be planted and cannot grow back.

Crafting With Sugarcane

Sugarcane can be used to craft either paper or sugar, which can each be used for a large variety of other items, including bookcases which are essential to high level enchantments.

Paper

Sugarcane can be turned into paper which can be used to make books, maps, and rockets. Books are needed to create bookcases, which can level up your enchantment table. You need fifteen bookcases for level thirty enchantments.

You can also create maps using paper. With the cartography table, you can make maps using paper alone, or you can combine a map with a compass to make a locator map that will track you as you move around. Maps are very helpful when exploring your world, you can mark landmarks or your base with banners making them easy to relocate later on.

In late game Minecraft you will want to have plenty of rockets to combine with your Elytra. Elytra is located in End Ships within End Cities. To fly using elytra, you will need a good supply of paper to craft rockets so you can be stocked with plenty of rockets to propel you as you move through the air.

Sugar

Sugarcane can also be turned into sugar which can be used to make a variety of different foods and potions. You can make pumpkin pie and cake using the crafting table. You can also use the brewing station to brew the mundane potion and the potion of swiftness.

Sugar can also be used alongside a spider eye to make a fermented spider eye which is a necessary ingredient for the potion of weakness. The potion of weakness is used to heal zombie villagers, which can result in great trading deals.

Sugar is also one of the many foods that can be used with horses. Sugar can be used to tame horses, heal them, and give them a slight speed increase for about 30 seconds. In addition to sugar, horses also enjoy wheat, apples, carrots, and haybales. Each of these foods will have a slightly different effect on the horse.

Differences Between Sugarcane on Bedrock and Java

When using sugarcane in Minecraft, you may notice a few differences depending on which version of the game you are using. Some of these differences include:

• Sugarcane grows much faster in java edition (average around 18 minutes) than bedrock edition (can take up to 54 minutes).
• In bedrock edition you can use one bone meal to grow sugarcane to three blocks where in java edition bone meal does not work on sugarcane.
• When creating sugarcane farms, you need to be aware that redstone works very differently in java edition than in bedrock edition. If you are trying to follow a tutorial building a sugarcane farm, make sure you are using the correct version of the farm or make necessary adjustments to make sure it will work with whichever edition you are playing on.