How to Get a Cow Plant in Sims 4: Berry, Feeding, Milk

How do you get a cow plant in The Sims 4?

Plant a Cowplant Berry. You cannot buy a grown cow plant in Buy Mode. You get the berry from fishing, from grafting a Dragonfruit with a Snapdragon, from digging, from space trips, or with a cheat.

The cow plant comes with the base game. You do not need a pack. Some packs add more ways to find the berry. The table shows each way and how sure it is.

Way to get the berry	Chance	What you need
Grafting	Sure	Gardening skill, a Snapdragon, and a Strawberry
Fishing	Random	A fishing spot in Oasis Springs or the Forgotten Grotto
Digging for treasure	Random	Dirt piles in the world
Space trip	Random	A rocket ship
Rare Seed Packets	Random	A high Gardening level and a computer
Cheat	Sure	The bb.showhiddenobjects cheat

The Sims Community, Snooty Sims, GGRecon, and Gamertweak all list these ways. EA Help has a cow plant page, but it did not load when we wrote this post. So this guide uses the fan guides and says where they disagree.

How do you graft a Cowplant Berry?

Graft a Snapdragon onto a Dragonfruit plant. Dragonfruit is not in the world in the base game, so you make it first. Gamertweak calls grafting the sure way. Use these steps:

Raise the Gardening skill of your Sim until the Graft action appears.
Find a Snapdragon and a Strawberry. Sims Community says both grow in Willow Creek.
Take a cutting from the Snapdragon.
Graft the Snapdragon cutting onto a Strawberry plant. The result is a Dragonfruit plant.
Grow the Dragonfruit plant until it is large enough.
Graft a second Snapdragon cutting onto the Dragonfruit plant.
Harvest the Cowplant Berries from that plant.

What level of gardening do you need for a cow plant?

To plant the berry, you need no level. Snooty Sims says that no gardening skill is necessary. The older Sims Community page says that you can grow it at any level.

The grafting level is not clear. Gamertweak says level 5. KosGames says level 7. Our Sims 4 skills database, which reads the game files, shows Graft and Take Cutting at Gardening level 4. Check your own game: the Graft action shows when your Sim can use it.

To skip the training, use a skill cheat. The commands are on our Sims 4 skill cheats page.

Where do you fish for a Cowplant Berry?

Fish in the small pond at Desert Bloom Park in Oasis Springs. Snooty Sims puts the pond near the cave at the back of the park. Sims Community calls it a tiny fishing hole. The berry is a random catch, so you can fish for hours.

The guides name these places:

The pond at Desert Bloom Park, Oasis Springs. Sims Community, Snooty Sims, and KosGames name it.
The Forgotten Grotto, a secret lot in Oasis Springs. Snooty Sims, GGRecon, and KosGames name it.
Magnolia Promenade. Only KosGames names it, and the page says it needs the Get to Work pack.

A reader comment on the 2015 Sims Community page names the lake in Sylvan Glade. The article itself does not. We did not confirm that place.

Can you get the berry from a pack?

Sims Community says that two packs add more ways. With City Living, Flea Market sellers can sell Cowplant Berries. With Seasons, Rare Seed Packets can hold the berry. Gamertweak says your Sim needs Gardening level 10 to order Rare Seed Packets on the computer. Read our City Living guide for the pack.

Why won’t my Cowplant Berry grow?

The usual cause is space. Sims Community says the cow plant needs a clear area of at least 2 by 5 tiles. If the area is not clear, the seed does not germinate.

Do these steps if the berry does not grow:

Move other objects, walls, and plants away from the berry. Keep the space in front clear.
Water the plant and tend it like other plants.
Wait about two days. Sims Community says that is the time to grow. GGRecon says 2 to 3 days.

Snooty Sims says that you can plant the berry in a planter, inside or outside. Some players report that a planter does not work. We could not confirm which is true, so try the ground if a planter fails.

The plant has three growth stages. The 2015 Sims Community page calls them Horn, Stem, and Full Grown. When it is full grown, you get the actions Feed, Play, Eat Cake, Collect Sample, Milk, and Pet. A child Sim only gets Play.

How often do you feed a cow plant?

Feed the cow plant every 12 hours. All of the guides that we opened agree on this number. Select the plant and choose Feed.

Sims Community says the food is a package of raw meat. Snooty Sims also says that the plant must be fed meat. The pages do not say where your Sim gets the meat. The Feed action is on the plant.

What happens if you do not feed it?

The plant gets hungry. It puts out its tongue with a slice of cake on the end. The cake is a trap for your Sims. Sims Community says that it only draws Sims of your household. Visitors do not go to it.

If the plant goes about 24 hours with no food, it dies. GGRecon, KosGames, and Sims Community say this. A dead cow plant leaves a skeleton. The 2015 Sims Community page says that you cannot revive it.

Sims Community gives two more tips. Play with the plant and pet it when you feed it. Put the plant where you see it often, such as near the front door.

What happens when a cow plant eats a Sim?

The first time, the plant spits the Sim out. The Sim lives. If the same Sim eats the cake again soon, the plant eats the Sim, and the Sim dies.

The guides give the details in different words:

Sims Community says a second bite kills the Sim while the Sim still has the negative moodlet from the first bite.
Snooty Sims says a second bite from the same plant within a few days kills the Sim.
GGRecon says the first bite gives an uncomfortable moodlet for three days. A second bite in a row kills the Sim.

A Sim who dies this way gets the Death by Cow Plant ghost type. Our cow plant death page reads the game files. It lists the Sims that the plant cannot kill, such as pregnant Sims, and the items that save a Sim.

To stop all deaths in your game, use the cheat death.toggle false. EA lists it on the official cheats page. For all the other ways that a Sim can die, read our guide to the Life and Death pack.

How do you get your Sim back from the cow plant?

If the plant spat the Sim out, you need to do nothing. The Sim is free. If the Sim died, the Sim is a ghost. A ghost can come back to life. Read how to bring a Sim back to life for the steps. To keep the Sim as a ghost, read how ghosts work in The Sims 4.

How do you get Essence of Life from a cow plant?

Milk the cow plant after it kills a Sim. The milk is the Essence of Life. You can only milk the plant after it eats a Sim. Snooty Sims says this applies if the Sim lived or died.

What happened to the Sim	Milk that you get	What the drink does
Spat out (lived)	An essence of the mood of the Sim	Gives the drinker the mood of the Sim when the plant ate it
Eaten (died)	Essence of Life	Adds days to the life of the drinker

The guides do not agree on how many days the Essence of Life adds. The 2015 Sims Community page says a few days. GGRecon says it resets the life bar to the start of the current life stage. Sims Community and KosGames say it also gives a happy mood.

The plant shows when it has milk. Sims Community says the udders look heavy and hang lower. Select the plant and choose Milk.

Is there a cheat for the cow plant?

Yes. Use the hidden objects cheat, and then find the cow plant in Build Mode. Use these steps on PC or Mac:

Press Ctrl + Shift + C to open the cheat console.
Type testingcheats true and press Enter.
Type bb.showhiddenobjects and press Enter.
Open Build Mode and search for Cowplant.
Place the cow plant or the Cowplant Berry.

EA says bb.showhiddenobjects shows all items that you cannot buy. Snooty Sims and KosGames type testingcheats first. Sims Community says that bb.showhiddenobjects works without testingcheats. Type both to be safe. GGRecon also names this cheat. For more commands, see our full Sims 4 cheats list.

Can you get a cow plant on console?

Yes. The cow plant is in the base game on all versions. We found no guide that gives different steps for console. To open the cheat console, hold all four shoulder buttons. Sims Community gives L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 on PlayStation and LB + LT + RB + RT on Xbox.

Be careful on console. Sims Community warns that testingcheats turns off trophies and achievements for that save. The same page says bb.showhiddenobjects does not do this. We found no page that shows the cow plant in the console debug list.

Does LifeSim have a cow plant?

No. LifeSim has no cow plant, no grafting, and no Essence of Life. If you want to grow strange plants and trick the Grim Reaper, The Sims 4 is the better game for you.

LifeSim is a different kind of life game. It is free, with no ads, in the browser and on iPhone. You live one life in a real city on a 3D map of Earth. The people talk back in their own words and remember you. Read how LifeSim works, or compare the two games in LifeSim vs The Sims.

Questions

Can you buy a cow plant in The Sims 4?

No. Snooty Sims says you cannot buy it or get it as a career reward. You plant a berry, or you use a cheat.

Do you need a pack for the cow plant?

No. The cow plant is in the base game. City Living and Seasons add more ways to find the berry.

Can the cow plant eat a child?

The 2015 Sims Community page says a child Sim only gets the Play action. It does not list Eat Cake for children.

Is there a cow plant that does not eat Sims?

Yes. Snooty Sims says the Paranormal pack has the Amuse-Bouch Cowplant. It is a small decoration. It needs no food and cannot die.

Can the cow plant dance?

KosGames says yes. Put a speaker next to the plant and play music. A Dance action then appears.

What we could not verify

The EA Help cow plant page and the EA gardening guide. Both gave an error when we tried to open them.
The exact Gardening level for grafting. Guides say 5 or 7. The game files show level 4.
The lake in Sylvan Glade as a fishing spot. Only a reader comment names it.
If a Cowplant Berry grows in a planter. Snooty Sims says yes, but some players report that it fails.
The exact number of days that the Essence of Life adds.
If the cow plant shows in the hidden objects list on PlayStation and Xbox.
Any change to the cow plant from game patches after 2024. The newest guide that we opened is from February 2024.

How to get a cow plant in The Sims 4

How do you get a cow plant in The Sims 4?

How do you graft a Cowplant Berry?

What level of gardening do you need for a cow plant?

Where do you fish for a Cowplant Berry?

Can you get the berry from a pack?

Why won’t my Cowplant Berry grow?

How often do you feed a cow plant?

What happens if you do not feed it?

What happens when a cow plant eats a Sim?

How do you get your Sim back from the cow plant?

How do you get Essence of Life from a cow plant?

Is there a cheat for the cow plant?

Can you get a cow plant on console?

Does LifeSim have a cow plant?

Questions

Can you buy a cow plant in The Sims 4?

Do you need a pack for the cow plant?

Can the cow plant eat a child?

Is there a cow plant that does not eat Sims?

Can the cow plant dance?

What we could not verify

More Sims guides

Sources

Sims 4 database

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