Pros and Cons of Planter Boxes and When to Use Them

If you enjoy gardening in the Sims 4 you have probably used or consider using planter boxes. While they are not completely necessary there are some pros and cons to using them over planting your garden directly in the ground.

This article will go over where you can find planter boxes including a few hidden ones and some Custom Content ("CC") planter boxes, and the pros and cons of using planter boxes for gardening.

Where to Find Planter Boxes in Sims 4

The base game comes with two basic planter, a small round one that can hold a single plant and a bigger square planter. You can find these in build/buy mode, under outdoor activities.

You can also have your sim create their own garden pots and planter boxes on the woodworking table. The quality of the planter and its value will depend on your sim's handiness skill level. Every other planter box that comes with an expansion pack is behind some sort of unlocking feature.

If you are interested in learning about creating a garden in Sims 4 you can learn everything you need to know here in my guide to gardening.

What are the pros of using a Planter Box?

There are a few reasons why you'd want to opt for a planter box over planting your plants directly in the ground.

First, planter boxes allow you to place plants inside and on any floor. If you want indoor plants without a planter box, you'd have to have outdoor terrain in your house, you wouldn't be able to use any sort of indoor flooring. If you use a planter box, you can place the box on any type of flooring.

When you place plants inside you get the benefit of not having to worry about plant's seasonality (If you do not have Sims 4 Seasons, your plants won't go in and out of season). When you hover over your plants it will show which season it blooms in, and right above that it will say Sheltered.

Second, using planter boxes can add a better aesthetic to any home or garden. If you are looking to add some character to an outdoor patio or living room, planting boxes are a great way to add a unique look to any outdoor or indoor living space. Unlike other décor items in the Sims 4, using planter boxes allow you to grow different plants and switch up what you choose to put in each.

Third, if you enjoy building small spaces or using apartments in the Sims 4, you can take advantage of vertical planters the come with Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle to save space. If you like using apartments, but want your sim to have small garden, planter boxes are your only option since there is no access to outdoor terrain in any of the apartments.

What are the cons of using a Planter Box?

While planter boxes do have some benefits, there are a few downsides to them as well.

The biggest con is that using planter boxes over planting them directly in the ground can be costly. If you like to game play without using money cheats, planter boxes are not the best place to spend your sim's money. If you have Sims 4 Outdoor Retreat or Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle you can have your sim make planters to save money and add an extra challenge to your game play.

Unfortunately, planter boxes aren't really necessary for gardening. Basic planter boxes do not benefit your plants in any way. They will grow the same if they are in a planter box or grow outside in the ground. The only beneficial planter box in the game is the Hydroponic Planter that waters your plants for you. The Hydroponic Planter can be unlock in Eco lifestyle. I discuss the process for unlocking them below.

Hydroponic planters do require a lot of water if you are trying to play off-grid or want to watch your water bill you can learn how water consumption works in my article going over the water consumption rating and what it means.

Different Types of Planter Boxes

The base game comes with two basic planter boxes, the Garden Pot and the Garden Planter Box. The Garden Pot is a small round pot that you can put one plant in. The Garden Planter Box can hold four smaller plants or one tree.

If you have Sims 4 Outdoor Retreat you can use the woodworking table that comes with the Sims 4 base game to build your own planter boxes. You can build either a small square Garden Pot or a Garden Planter. These are both square planter boxes that look handmade, unlike the base game where the garden pot is round and the garden planter is square, the Outdoor Retreat planter boxes look almost identical besides the fact that one is smaller and the other one is larger.

There is a hidden garden planter box that comes with Sims 4 City Living it looks very similar to the base game except it is pink with flowers printed on it. You will see these garden planters when you go to some of the festivals included with the Sims 4 City Living pack. However, when you go to the build/buy mode you won't see this planter box as an option. If you want to use these in your sim's house you will need to use the bb.showhiddenobjects cheat.

In 2016 EA had a challenge known as the Growfruit Challenge. By completing the growfruit challenge you were awarded with a new planter box. These planter boxes look similar to the base game garden pot except they are more colorful.

If you finished this challenge when it was going on, you wouldn't need a cheat to accesses these planters. However, if you did not complete the challenge you will need to use the ignoregameplayunlocksentitlement cheat.

If you want to learn more about object cheats I wrote an article that covers everything you need to know about using cheats that reveal hidden objects.

Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle introduces vertical planters and the hydroponic planter. The vertical planter can grow many fruits and vegetables while saving space in your builds. The vertical planter is available in build/buy mode and does not require you to do anything to unlock the vertical planter.

You have to unlock the hydroponic planter by advancing in the Civil Designer Career. You use your electronic drafting tablet to create the blueprints for this hydroponic planter. Once you successfully unlock the blueprints for the hydroponic planter you can then use the Store No More Home Fabricator to make the hydroponic planters.

The hydroponic planter is the only garden planter box that benefits your sim's garden. The hydroponic planter will automatically water your plants for you. You can also get a hydroponic planter by using bb.showhiddenobjects cheat and the hydroponic planters will appear in the buy menu under outdoor activities.

Best Custom Content Planter Boxes

If you play Sims 4 on PC you have the ability to download custom content, and many custom content developers have created some amazing planter boxes that can elevate your garden. Below are some links to some fun custom content garden planter boxes.

Each of these are fully functional planter boxes that can add some more options for your sim's garden.

Summer Gardening Adventures

This gardening pack includes two different gardening planters, a raised planter and a small fenced planter that sits on the ground. You also get a few other décor objects for your garden including a functional flower arranging table, a wheelbarrow, some pots, and some stems to go in the pots.

You can download this CC from The Sims Resource from the creator sim_man123.

Maya - Vegetable Patch

If you enjoy a more modern look to your builds these functional planter boxes are a great option. They work similarly to the big garden planters in the game, and include four color variations.

You can download this CC from the Sims Resource from creator Syboubou.

Barrel Planter Pots

If you want more of rustic look you can get some custom-made garden planters that look like they were made from barrels. These planters come in 8 different color variations.

You can download this CC from Mod the Sims from creator Serinion.