How to Stop Crop Stealing in Grow a Garden 2

You spend hours growing a huge mutated crop, and then night falls and someone walks off with it. Stealing is a big part of Grow a Garden 2, and every player deals with it sooner or later. The good news is that there are lots of simple ways to keep your best crops safe. This guide explains how stealing works and the best ways to stop it.

How stealing works

The game has a day and night cycle. A short warning and a timer on your screen tell you when night is coming. Once it is night, players can walk into a garden whose owner is not home, go up to a crop and press the steal button to pick it up.

You can tell which gardens are open by the icon above them. An unlocked symbol means the owner is away. A player's face means the owner is home and the garden is locked.

Thieves also take a risk. While they carry stolen crops they can't teleport back to their own garden, so they have to walk home. That gives you time to chase them.

The best free defense: stay home

The easiest way to stop thieves costs nothing. Stand inside your own garden at night. While you are inside, your garden is locked and other players get a message that the owner is home. They can't take anything.

This also means you should think twice before going out to steal from others when your own crops are valuable. As soon as you leave, your garden is open again. If you do go out, raid gardens close to yours and come straight back.

Another simple trick is to harvest your most valuable crops before night starts. A crop in your inventory can't be stolen from your garden.

Use your Shovel

Every player starts with a Shovel. Players report that hitting a thief with it knocks them back, and the crops they took go back to your garden. If you catch someone in the act, chase them before they get home.

Defense plants

Some plants protect your garden all by themselves:

• Venus Fly Trap: bites players who come close and does a lot of damage. Be careful, it can snap at you too.
• Dragon's Breath: shoots fire at nearby intruders. Each hit is small, but it attacks often.
• Cactus: slowly hurts anyone who steps on it, which is great for paths into your garden.
• Bamboo: doesn't hurt anyone, but players report it can't be stolen. Use it to build walls with small gaps so thieves have to take a longer way in.

Traps, fences and doors

The Props Shop sells crates with items for your garden layout. The Bear Trap Crate gives traps that catch thieves. The Fence Crate and Owner Door Crate let you control where people can walk in. A good plan is to leave only one or two ways into your garden and put traps right there.

Pets that guard your garden

Some pets attack intruders for you:

• Bee: swarms players who come into your garden. It is a popular first defense pet.
• Black Dragon: breathes fire on thieves.
• Ice Serpent: breathes frost on intruders.

Check our pet values page before you buy or trade for one.

Gear that helps

A few pieces of gear are useful against raiders. The Gnome attacks intruders for a while on its own. The Flashbang stuns nearby players, so you can catch them. The Speed Mushroom makes you faster, which helps when you chase a thief back to their garden.

Plan your garden layout

Where you plant matters as much as what you buy:

• Plant cheap crops around the edges. Thieves often grab the first thing they see.
• Keep your most valuable and mutated crops in the middle, as far from the entrances as possible.
• Put defense plants and traps between the entrances and your best crops.
• Check what your crops are worth on the plant values and mutations pages, so you know which ones need the most protection.

Play on a private server

If you want to be completely safe, a private server keeps other players out. You won't have anyone to trade with or steal from there, but nobody can raid your garden either. Many players grow their most valuable crops on a private server and use public servers for trading. Before any trade, read how to trade safely.

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