Welcome to the Gardener merit badge guide for Fallout 76! As with all of the Possum badges, make sure you’ve earned the Possum rank before you begin. This is a time consuming merit badge, but isn’t difficult, and as long as you keep at it, you’ll be able to earn this merit badge fairly quickly. Before we get to our suggestions and tips, here are the requirements for the Gardener merit badge.

Pass “Gardener” knowledge exam at an exam terminal
Acquire a flower pot
Acquire a pitchfork
Acquire a shovel
Craft Fertilizer (x/20)
Plant Blackberries in a Workshop or C.A.M.P. (x/3)
Plant Carrots in a Workshop or C.A.M.P. (x/3)
Plant Corn in a Workshop or C.A.M.P. (x/3)
Plant Gourds in a Workshop or C.A.M.P. (x/3)
Plant Melons in a Workshop or C.A.M.P. (x/3)
Plant Mutfruit Plants in a Workshop or C.A.M.P. (x/3)
Plant Razorgrain in a Workshop or C.A.M.P. (x/3)
Plant Tato Plants in a Workshop or C.A.M.P. (x/3)
Harvest Crops (x/100)
Kill Bloatflies (x/10)
Kill Bloodbugs (x/10)
Kill Molerats (x/10)
Kill Rabbits (x/10)
Kill Radants (x/10)
Kill Radrats (x/10)
Kill Stingwings (x/10)
Kill Ticks (x/10)

If you’re looking for the answers to the Gardener knowledge exam, you’ll find those at the bottom of this article in an expandable tab.

If you don’t already have a garden in your camp, there are plenty of places around the map you can get started with grabbing the various fruits, veggies, and grains you need to plant for this badge. If you use the Green Thumb perk (Perception), you’ll get two of every item when you pick them, so gathering enough to plant three of each shouldn’t take long. And even if you only find one (Melons and Gourds seem harder for most people to find in quantity), you can always pick and plant more once your first crops reach maturity. You’ll definitely want to be picking a lot of crops, though, because aside from what you need to plant, and the requirement to harvest 100 crops, in order to craft 20 fertilizer, you’ll need 200 spoiled fruits, veggies, or meat. Be patient, and you’ll get there.

As you’re running around playing the game, and especially doing the Stings and Things daily, most of the kill creature challenges will be a breeze, but rabbits will likely require some searching. Probably the best spawn for them is by The Whitespring Service Entrance (for the Enclave), on the hill between the building and the road. If you go by the Overseer’s Camp, on the other side of the creek there can occasionally spawn rabbits as well, but it’s just as likely to be squirrels, cats, frogs, or…well, not rabbits.

Radants spawn at the Thunder Mountain Substation TM-02 (just north of Watoga), but the deathclaw that also spawns there will probably kill most or all of them before you do. You can also find Radants at Appalachian Antiques (between Fort Defiance and Watoga), the Bootlegger’s Shack (east of the Ranger District Office and Ranger Lookout Tower in the Cranberry Bog), and the Southhampton Estate (just east of the Hunter’s Shack in The Mire, where you turn in the Queen of the Hunt daily). If you’re going through the trouble of killing Radants, and gathering crops, then you might as well also craft up some Radant Lager, which gives you an extra 50 carry weight while you’re under the influence, and can double up with daily/weekly Atom challenges to craft or consume various types of alcohol. Although we haven’t seen those challenges in a while, so they may or may not be coming back.

Gardener Knowledge Exam Questions and Answers

A cantaloupe is a round and tasty plant that’s orange on the inside. What kind of plant is a cantaloupe?: A melon
Autumn is Samuel’s favorite time of year! He loves Halloween and the autumn harvest. Which of his favorite autumn plants will light up a popular Halloween attraction in Appalachia this year?: Pumpkins
Brendan is lying in the grass beneath a big oak tree. He’s amazed that a tree can get so big with just a few ingredients, like light and water. What process do plants use to make energy from these ingredients?: Photosynthesis
Erin says ladybugs aren’t “true bugs” at all! Well, what kind of insect are they, then?: Beetles
For plants to be fertilized and make seeds, they need to be pollinated. Some animals help with pollination by carrying the pollen from plant to plant. Which of the following animals help pollinate plants?: All of the above
Hannah is very dedicated to her garden. Some day, she wants to grow it into a big public place, where she can share all different kinds of plants with the world. What would you call this kind of garden?: A botanical garden
Mark knew locust swarms are notorious for destroying crops. But he was surprised to learn that locusts are just a kind of common garden insect! Which insect?: Grasshoppers
Mary wants to grow a spectacular garden, with all the best plants she can find. She wants to model her garden off of a legendary Wonder of the World. Which garden should she use as her model?: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Mice have been sneaking into your garden and nibbling on all your plants! It’s time to take action. What kind of weapon was made for just such an occasion?: A garden gun
Samuel grows potatoes in his garden so he can cook and eat them whenever he wants. Potatoes are grown all over the place, but they originally started in a small range. Where in the world did people first grow potatoes?: South America
Soil makes a big difference in how plants grow. Hannah wants to learn more about soil science at Vault-Tec University so the plants in her garden will grow big and healthy. What field should she study to learn about soil and living things?: Edaphology
Susie wants to work at the Vault-Tec Agricultural Research Center in Flatwoods when she grows up, but that means going to college. What subject should she study in college to reach her goal?: Botany
When Barry plays baseball, he’s always chewing on the seeds of a pretty garden plant. Which plant has seeds that are popular with baseball players?: Sunflower
When plants make food for themselves they use light, carbon dioxide, and water to make sugar. They also make one other element that they don’t use, though. What element is that?: Oxygen
You can use genetics to cross-breed certain plants and give them the traits that you want, even in your own garden! What friar famously showed how this is done by cross-breeding peas?: Gregor Mendel
You’re hiking in the woods, gathering new seeds for your garden. You notice some fruit growing on a bush, but when you reach out to pick it, you nick your finger on a prickly bramble! What kind of fruit usually grows on bramble bushes like these?: Blackberries
You’re preparing to do some gardening and go to grab your tools, but something in your toolbox looks out of place. Which of these tools should you NOT bring when gardening?: Duct tape
You’re starting a garden just to grow some food for cooking at home. What’s this kind of simple garden called?: A kitchen garden
Your family recently moved to a cool and boggy part of Appalachia, limiting what you can grow in your new garden. Which of these plants would grow well in this new environment?: Cranberries
Your garden is overrun with pesky insects! Grant says that there are chemicals that will kill them all and rescue your garden. What class of chemical is he talking about?: Pesticides