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Cultivating plants is an optional activity in Nier Replicant, but is well worth doing as it is a great source of earning gold and is also tied to earning the 'Legendary Gardener' achievement/trophy for growing the legendary Lunar Tear flower. However, gardening is not immediately available in the game but must be unlocked.
We have a full guide right here on how to unlock this feature, how to expand your field size, as well as guides on breeding hybrid flowers, where to purchase all the seeds you'll need, and how to manipulate your system's time/date to make the process quicker.
Updated on November 1, 2021: We've updated this guide for better readability and included additional information to help you become a gardening master when it comes to Nier's little garden plot.
How to Unlock the Gardening Feature and Expand Your Garden
In order to unlock the ability to cultivate plants in the garden next to Nier's house, you first need to complete the quest 'Shopping List'. This quest is given by the florist in Nier's village, in the location shown above. The following 'A Return to Shopping" quest expands your garden.
|
Quest |
Availability |
Walkthrough |
Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Shopping List Quest |
Available as soon as quests unlock in the game (you will get an on-screen notification of this). |
The florist will ask you to bring her three Tulip Bulbs, which can be purchased from the Grocery Store in Seafront. Go and buy the bulbs and then return to the florist to complete the quest. |
You'll receive 500 gold as a reward and the ability to cultivate plants in your garden. |
|
A Return to Shopping Quest |
This quest is available after completing 'Shopping List'. |
The florist now wants three Bounty Fertilizers. These are sold in Seafront, so head back there and purchase some from the Item Shop. (They can also be found in crates by the central canal in Seafront too.) |
Return to the florist with the fertilizers to receive one Tulip Bulb, one Bounty Fertilizer, 2,000 Gold, and an expansion to your garden plot. |
|
Note: If you missed one or both of the above quests and have already progressed to Part Two of Nier Replicant, the quests are no longer available. However, you can unlock gardening and expand your garden by simply purchasing the Cultivator’s Handbook item from the florist for the price of 5,000 gold. |
Basics of Gardening in Nier Replicant
Once this feature is unlocked, you can cultivate plants in the garden next to Nier's house. Growing plants and vegetables uses real-world time, so this isn't a quick process. Usually, it takes a whole day for something to fully grow, and another day for it to die (this is important for farming for seeds, but we'll get into that later.)
You can plant both flowers and vegetables in your garden. Many of the vegetables in the game are required for sidequests, and while they can be purchased from various merchants, it is far cheaper to grow them yourself.
Flower and vegetable seeds can be purchased from florists and grocers in different cities. Additionally, some can be gathered in various areas or can drop from enemies.
With the maximum expansion, you will have 15 plots to plant in. Interacting with a plot will allow you to place fertilizer or place a seed.
There are two kinds of fertilizers that can be purchased from the Item Shop in Seafront (or gathered from crates):
- Speed Fertilizer: Increases growth speed, allowing you to harvest earlier.
- Bounty Fertilizer: Increases the output of a harvest.
You can choose to use either of these fertilizers before planting a seed, and after planting, you will have the option to water your plants. Neglecting to water your plants will not cause their growth to fail, as watering plants simply increases the chance of a greater harvest.
Farming Flowers and Seeds in Nier Replicant
There are different flower seeds available in the game, which can be grown to be sold for a profit or grown to harvest seeds. Growing flowers takes one full day, after which point you can harvest them (image on the left above).
If you are growing plants to specifically gain seeds, you need to wait until the flowers die, this takes approximately two days. At this point, the flowers will noticeably be flat on the floor with scattered petals (image on the right above), at which point you can harvest to gather the seeds.
You will usually end up with two to four seeds from each harvest, enabling you to keep farming without the need to purchase any more seeds. This is without using water or fertilizer.
Where to Purchase Moonflower Seeds in Nier Replicant
Florists and Grocery Stores in the different cities stock various seeds for vegetables and flowers, but most players will want to know where to buy Moonflower seeds as they are required for growing the Lunar Tear.
The Grocery Store in Seafront sells the following Moonflower seeds and can be found in the location shown above.
|
Seed Type |
Price |
|---|---|
|
Red Moonflower Seed |
120 gold |
|
Gold Moonflower Seed |
120 gold |
|
Blue Moonflower Seed |
120 gold |
In order to get the other types/colors of Moonflower seeds, you'll need to breed them yourself. See below for a guide on how to breed hybrid flowers.
How To Breed Hybrid Moonflowers in Nier Replicant
Moonflowers can be planted in a specific way to breed hybrid colors, which can then, in turn, be used to breed even rarer hybrids, including the coveted White Moonflower (Lunar Tear).
To breed hybrid flowers you must plant two different colors beside one another. Planting in an alternating sequence is the optimum way to breed hybrids, as shown above. So for example:
|
Red |
Gold |
Red |
Gold |
Red |
|
Gold |
Red |
Gold |
Red |
Gold |
|
Red |
Gold |
Red |
Gold |
Red |
When the flowers are fully grown, you will see a noticeable difference in color if you have successfully managed to grow a hybrid color. The petal colors will also be noticeably different when you are harvesting seeds.
|
Note: Remember, if you want to harvest the seeds of your hybrid, you must wait another day for the flower to die. |
Here are the required combinations to get each Moonflower type:
|
Desired Moonflower Seeds |
Required Seed Combination |
|---|---|
|
Peach Moonflower Seeds |
Plant Red and Gold Moonflowers in an alternating sequence. |
|
Indigo Moonflower Seeds |
Plant Blue and Gold Moonflowers in an alternating sequence. |
|
Pink Moonflower Seeds |
Plant Indigo and Red Moonflowers in an alternating sequence. |
|
White Moonflower Seeds |
Plant Peach and Pink Moonflowers in an alternating sequence. |
There is about a 5-20 percent chance of getting a hybrid depending on which color you are going for, with some players even saying that the White Moonflower is closer to a 1 percent chance.
Be prepared that it may take you a few tries to get the hybrid you want. Fortunately, as you get 2-4 seeds per harvest (without any fertilizer or watering), once you have some hybrid seeds already, you should be set to get plenty more.
The White Moonflower is also known as the Lunar Tear and growing this will unlock the "Legendary Gardener" accolade. We have a step-by-step guide on how to achieve this right here, as well as a more in-depth section on growing all of the Moonflower hybrids.
Time-traveling to Make Flowers Grow Quicker in Nier Replicant
Time-traveling is the term used for manipulating your system's time and date so that the game believes that real-time has passed. Using this method will allow you to grow your flowers and vegetables much faster, which makes the breeding for hybrid flowers a whole lot easier (and as a result, easier to earn that coveted Lunar Tear accolade).
However, altering the system settings has changed since the original release of Nier in 2010 and it's not so simple to do anymore. Here's how to achieve it for each format:
How to Time Travel on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Xbox consoles can only have their dates manually changed while offline. Digital games can only be played while the console is offline if the console is set as your "Home Xbox". If you have a digital version of Nier Replicant, you can set your Home Console under Settings>General>Personalization.
- Plant your seeds in Nier Replicant
- Save at the post box
- Close Nier Replicant
- Go to Settings
- Under General go to Network Settings
- Choose the Go offline option
- Restart your Xbox console
- Go to Settings
- Under System, select Time
- Select Date and Time
- Manually put the date forward one day (if you want to harvest flowers or veggies) or forward by two days (if you want to harvest seeds)
- Re-open Nier Replicant and reap your rewards
|
NOTE: Achievements do not unlock while offline, and though they sometimes will pop once you reconnect, there is no guarantee that this will happen. |
If you load your game and see you have the White Moonflower (for the achievement) — don't pick it! You can go into your Network settings and go online without closing Nier, then pick the White Moonflower to make sure that the achievement unlocks.
How to Time Travel on PlayStation 4
Regrettably, changing the system date/time on your PlayStation 4 does not seem to work for Nier Replicant. In order to achieve the same results, you instead have to change your timezone settings.
- Close Nier Replicant
- Go to Settings
- Select Date and Time
- Select Time Zone
- Choose UTC-11:00 American Samoa
- Open Nier Replicant
- Plant your seeds in Nier Replicant
- Save at the post box
- Close Nier Replicant
- Go to Settings
- Select Date and Time
- Select Time Zone
- Choose UTC+13:00 Independent State of Samoa
- Re-open Nier Replicant and reap your rewards
How to Time Travel on PC
Settings may differ slightly depending on your version.
- Plant your seeds in Nier Replicant
- Save at the post box
- Close Nier Replicant
- Right-click on the date and time on your start bar and select Adjust date/time (or go into Time and Language via the Windows Settings option)
- Ensure the "Set time automatically" setting is switched off
- Under the Set the date and time option, click Change
- Manually put the date forward one day (if you want to harvest flowers or veggies) or forward by two days (if you want to harvest seeds)
- Re-open Nier Replicant and reap your rewards
How to Time Travel on Mac
Settings may differ slightly depending on your version.
- Plant your seeds in Nier Replicant
- Save at the post box
- Close Nier Replicant
- Right-click on the date and time on your menu bar and select Open Date & Time Preferences
- Click the padlock icon to allow changes to be made (you will need to input your password here)
- Ensure the "Set date and time automatically" option is turned off
- Manually put the date forward one day (if you want to harvest flowers or veggies) or forward by two days (if you want to harvest seeds)
- Re-open Nier Replicant and reap your rewards