Old pets in Grow a Garden offer major advantages in gameplay, making them one of the most sought-after assets for both combat and trading. Understanding how pets age, how their abilities grow over time, and why aged pets are so valuable is crucial for any player aiming to build a powerful team or succeed in the trading economy.
What Is the Pet Age System in Grow a Garden?
In Grow a Garden, pets are more than just companions—they’re essential gameplay tools that improve with time. Each pet has an internal XP and age system that allows it to grow older. Unlike some games where aging may lead to negative effects, pets in Grow a Garden can reach up to 80 years of age without any drawbacks.
The age of a pet plays a significant role in determining its power level. As pets get older, their passive abilities improve, making them more efficient in farming, combat, or support roles. This scaling mechanism makes pet aging a key long-term progression feature for players.
How to Age Pets – Feeding and Passive XP Methods
There are two main ways to increase a pet’s age in Grow a Garden:
1. Feeding Pets Manually
The most common and direct method is through feeding. To feed a pet:
Click on the pet and choose the “Feed” option.
Alternatively, hold the F key while near your pet with a crop in hand.
While any crop can technically be used, the rarity and type of pet determine the effectiveness of each feeding:
Common pets can be fed with basic crops.
Rare or legendary pets require higher-tier crops for meaningful XP gain.
Feeding pets consistently is the main driver of age progression, and players looking to age pets efficiently often plan crop usage around their pets’ needs.
2. Using Passive XP Pets
Some pets, such as the Brown Mouse, come with built-in passive XP gain abilities. For example:
Brown Mouse generates 750 XP every 8 minutes automatically.
This allows pets to age even when you’re focusing on other tasks in the game. Strategically equipping one of these passive XP pets can help boost the aging process for pets you’re actively feeding or using in the field.
Benefits of Having Old Pets
1. Enhanced Passive Abilities
As pets grow older, their passive abilities scale significantly. This can include:
Increased crop duplication chances
Boosted farming efficiency
Better item generation
Shorter cooldowns for special abilities
Essentially, an old pet becomes stronger, faster, and more profitable the more you use and age it.
2. Higher Trading Value
In the Grow a Garden trading community, aged pets are in high demand. Many players will only trade for pets that are already aged to a certain level, as this saves them the time and effort required to age pets from scratch.
Because of this, pets that have reached advanced ages (50–80+) are often used as high-value trading commodities.
Trading benefits include:
Swapping aged pets for rare crops or exclusive items
Access to limited-time pets via exchange
Better bargaining power in Discord trading communities
3. Better Synergy in Farming Setups
Some pets provide XP or crop bonuses that are tied to their level or age. By aging your pet, you’re optimizing your entire farming setup:
Aged pets can support lower-tier pets with XP sharing.
They synergize better with equipment that amplifies age-based bonuses.
They can be used to boost income and resource gain passively.
Best Practices for Aging Pets Efficiently
To age pets quickly and consistently, here are some key tips:
Use XP pets like Brown Mouse alongside your main pet to generate passive XP.
Feed your pet consistently—don’t skip days if you’re aiming for a specific age milestone.
Prioritize high-efficiency crops if your pet is rare or requires more XP per level.
Use feeding loops during idle time (AFK setups) to gain passive progress.
Avoid overfeeding with low-tier crops—this may result in wasted resources with minimal XP gain.
Final Thoughts
Aging pets in Grow a Garden isn’t just cosmetic—it’s a core mechanic tied to power, efficiency, and value. By understanding what old pets do and how to maximize their XP growth, players can unlock major benefits in farming speed, trading potential, and gameplay progression.
Whether you’re planning to build a powerful farming team, become a high-level trader, or simply enjoy maximizing your pets’ potential, focusing on aging your pets is a long-term strategy that pays off across all areas of the game.