How To Grow Sugar Cane In Minecraft? The Detailed Guide In 2023

Sugar and paper are the two most essential commodities in Minecraft, as you can craft many things just from these two items. However, you need to have sugarcane to make these two items. But do you know how to grow sugar cane in Minecraft? That too, an efficient one?

You need to place sugarcane in dirt, sand, or grass blocks to make them grow. Besides, sugarcane farms need to be in close proximity to a running water source, such as a river. Pro gamers also feed sugarcane saplings ample bone meals to make them grow faster.

Besides making a small-scale sugarcane farm to keep up with your village’s needs, you can also set up automated farms in the game to ensure a constant supply. But, before we reveal the ways to make a sugarcane farm, you must have a clear idea about the features of this plant in the game.

Characteristics Of Sugar Cane In Minecraft

You must know the characteristics and features of this crop before you start sugarcane farming in Minecraft. Sugarcane, unlike other corps in the game, can only be grown in the grass, sand, dirt, and podzol blocks. Besides, you must keep the sugarcane farm in close proximity to a water source. If you remove sugarcanes from water bodies, they will break and disappear during the next refresh.

If you haven’t altered the ticking speed, sugarcane will grow one block in height in every 16 in-game ticks. And if you compare it with the real-world scenario, sugarcane will take nearly 18 minutes to become one block tall. However, strong light or absence of light, no light condition can influence the growth of sugarcane in the game.

Usually, sugarcane plants will grow up to a height of 3 blocks. However, you can place another sugar cane on top of one to make it look taller. You also need to remember that you shouldn’t take out sugarcane blocks from the farm and place it elsewhere. Because the soil structure and topography usually load in the sugarcane memory, which will make them dry if you take it far away from the farm itself.

How to Setup a Sugar Cane Farm in Minecraft?

Once you know about the features of this excellent plant, it is now time to know how to build a sugar cane farm in Minecraft. Farming sugarcane is pretty easy in this game, although you need to take care of three vital things before you start planting sugarcane saplings.

1. Sugarcanes should be cultivated adjacent to a waterbody or flowing water source.
2. You must place the sugarcane saplings in a block of dirt or sand to make them grow.
3. It is better to plant the saplings in a well-lighted area.

You also need to understand that it is not advisable to remove the bottom block of any sugarcane plant in the game. If you harvest the other blocks of a sugar cane and leave the bottom block, that sugarcane will again start growing. However, if you are looking for massive-level farming, there are two ways to do it, which are as follows.

• Dig a long but narrow trench on the banks of a river or any other dynamic water source and plant sugarcane saplings on that trench to ensure a constant supply of water.

• If you don’t have that much space, you can use a single block of water and keep four to six sugarcane blocks around the central water block to ensure a steady water supply.

Alternatively, you can also make a water regulatory system manually for your sugarcane farms in Minecraft. However, it will take time and expertise to make an automated farm.

How To Setup A Fully-Automated Sugar Cane Farm In Minecraft?

You may need a lot of sugarcane in your biome to enchant all the books or maybe to have a fancy library in your village. However, it won’t be easy to manually cultivate sugarcane in a vast area. So, if you want to know how to plant sugarcane in Minecraft, that too an automated one, you need to start with the materials necessary to make it.

Materials: You need to have 79 Redstone, 128 cobblestones, 5 smooth stones, 96 wooden planks, 20 wooden sticks, 32 iron bars, 16 blocks of sand, 1 bucket of water, and one block of sugarcane or sugarcane saplings. You can also make a basic version of this automated farm with just 42 Redstone, 48 wooden planks, and 16 iron bars.

Space Requirement: A single automated sugarcane farm will take at least 11 x 9 blocks of an area on your map. Besides, it will take five blocks more vertically. So, the total space required for a single automated farm is 11 x 9 x 5 blocks. However, you can combine several of these automated farms together to make a giant one.

Now, once you accumulate the materials needed to make this automated farm and also assign the area, you can now start with the actual process of making it. And the steps are as follows.

Step 1: Build A Base

You need to dig a trench first, which should be at least 8 blocks long. You need to flank it with strips of sand and then make a 1-block high brick wall just next to the sand strips so that sand can stay in the right place. Once the trench is made, you can pour water from any end of the trench.

Step 2: Add Pistons

You need to make 32 pistons and place 16 pistons on each bank of your waterbody. Many people have failed to set up pistons on the bank. However, you can easily do it by temporarily making a wall of sand to hold the pistons together. Once the setup is complete, you can then remove the temporary wall.

And if you don’t know the right way to craft a piston in this game, follow our detailed guide on the Minecraft piston recipe in both the Java and Bedrock editions.

Step 3: Wire Up The Pistons

First, you need to build a row with blocks that should have the same height as your piston. Secondly, you should place the Redstone torches on the sides of those blocks. However, you must place torches in such as way that the torches will always face pistons. Now, place the Redstone dust in a thin line that will act like a wire.

You need to then place another Redstone torch at any end of the row and then put a stone button beneath the torch. Now, continue your wiring with the Redstone dust until it reaches the other ends of your row. You also need to make sure that there should be a gap between the piston and the wiring at the back of your farm. Otherwise, this automated mechanism will not work properly.

Step 4: Finishing Touches

You first need to push the stone button at the end of your farm to check whether the switch can activate the pistons. Besides, you can also check if the wiring is working correctly or not. Once you are satisfied with the result, plant your sugarcane saplings on the farm to let them grow.

You can also add a tin or cemented roof on your farm to keep some shades for the sugarcane trees. Besides, you can also add some additional torches to keep the farm well lighted.

How Does Sugar Cane Farming Works In Minecraft?

You must have already understood how to grow sugar cane in Minecraft. However, you need to know about the background mechanism to operate your farm more efficiently. As we have said earlier, sugarcane will reach a height of 3 blocks until they become fully mature and ready to be harvested. 

It will take roughly 18 minutes in the Java edition and around 54 minutes in the Bedrock edition for sugarcanes to grow a single block. However, this will only work if you plant sugarcanes near any water body. You shouldn’t try to farm sugarcanes in the blocks made of frosted ice or any waterlogged blocks. But yes, light is not necessary for sugarcane farming, as it can grow in complete darkness in Minecraft.

You can feed bone meals to your sugarcane saplings in the Bedrock edition to make them grow at a faster pace. By putting a single block of bone meal, you can make any sugarcane grow up to three-block tall almost instantly. Besides, you can also put sugarcanes in a composter which will ensure a 50% chance of attaining Level-I in the composter.

How To Make Sugar Cane Grow Faster In Minecraft?

Do you know that there are ways available to grow sugar cane fast in Minecraft? Yes, there are two most effective methods you can try that can help you to grow sugarcane faster. And those methods are as follows.

• Method 1 – Feed Bone Meal: You can add one block of bone meal to each of your sugarcane plants to make them instantly 3-block tall, which is the full height of an adult sugarcane plant. However, this method will only work in the Bedrock edition.
• Method 2 – Use Command Lines: You can alternatively change the in-game ticking speed to make the sugarcanes grow at a faster rate. It is better to use the “/gamerule randomTickSpeed 1000” command line to make the ticking speed faster. However, this will impact the entire gameplay, not just the sugarcane growth. And your animals will also become mature way faster than the usual speed.

Besides, you can also try to keep your sugarcane farm well-lighted to aid the growth of the saplings. And you can easily do it by placing torches or candles on the farm. But, if you don’t know how to craft one, follow our detailed guide on how to make candles in Minecraft.

What Are The Items You Can Craft From Sugar Cane In Minecraft?

Once you know how to grow sugar cane in Minecraft, you are ready to craft other items using sugarcane from your farm. You can mainly craft two items with the help of sugarcanes. The first one is sugar and the second one is paper. Crafting sugar is pretty easy, as you need to just place sugarcane on your crafting table to get one piece of sugar in your inventory.

Besides, you can also craft papers with the help of sugarcanes. You need to first open your crafting table and then place three sugar cane in a row. If you can place them the right way, you can get three pieces of paper from three pieces of sugarcane.

FAQs

How long does it take to grow sugar cane Minecraft?

Sugarcane becomes three-block tall once they reach maturity age and is ready to be harvested. And it takes around 18 minutes for a sugarcane plant to grow one block tall. So, a sugarcane plant will roughly take 54 minutes to attend its full height. However, you can alter this growth by changing your ticking speed in Minecraft. 

Why is sugar cane not growing Minecraft?

You need to cultivate sugarcane on grass, dirt, or sand block. If you cultivate sugarcane on other blocks, such as ice or gravel, it will not grow. Besides, you should also place sugarcanes near a water body. Otherwise, they will not grow and will eventually vanish from your map due to a shortage of water.

Does sugar cane have to grow on sand Minecraft?

Yes, you can comfortably grow sugarcane in sand blocks on Minecraft. However, you need to place the sand blocks close to a water body to ensure an uninterrupted water supply. Besides, you can also often find sugarcanes naturally forming in sand blocks, although those incidents are extremely rare.

Does sugar cane need light to grow Minecraft?

No, the growth of sugarcane will not depend on the lighting condition of your farm. Besides, sugarcane can even grow in complete darkness if there is an ample supply of water. However, it is better to keep the farm well-lighted to protect it from zombies and mobs.

Conclusion

Sugarcanes are essential in Minecraft, as you’ll need sugar and paper quite frequently to make a sustainable village in your biomes. So, it is better to set up a sugarcane farm beforehand to avoid any shortage. Besides, it is also a great idea to make an automated farm if you need a constant supply of sugarcanes.

So, these are all the tested methods to try if you don’t know how to grow sugar cane in Minecraft. But, if you think we have missed any point, or if you know about any other way to farm sugarcane, don’t forget to drop your suggestions and feedback in the comment box below.