Grow a garden zen update

Grow a Garden Zen Update Guide (July 2025)

by

The Zen Update (Version 1.15.0) is a limited-time event in Grow a Garden that launched on July 19, 2025. It brings a tranquil, Japanese-inspired theme to the game, swapping chaos for Chi and tranquil vibes.

This update runs for one week, ending on July 26, 2025.

During the Zen Event, players can unlock new seeds, pets, items, and features – all centered around achieving harmony (and profit) in their gardens.

In this guide, we’ll break down everything the Zen Update offers and how to make the most of it, in simple terms.

SEE ALSO: Grow a Garden Codes

The Hourly Zen Event and Tranquil Fruits

The core of the update is the Zen Event, which occurs at the start of every hour. When a Zen Event begins, a calm blue aura (the Zen Aura weather) envelops the game world.

During this 10-minute aura, fruits in your garden have a chance to gain the new Tranquil mutation, turning them into Tranquil fruits.

Tranquil fruits have a distinct white bubble effect with Japanese characters floating around them, and they sell for 20× their normal value. This mutation embodies the “zen” spirit – it’s peaceful but extremely profitable!

To participate, make sure you’re actively playing at the top of each hour when the Zen Aura triggers. You can also check the countdown timer for the next Zen Event by visiting Unk the Monk in the event hub (an NPC monk in a Zen garden area).

Tip: If you have certain pets like the Tanchozuru crane, they can occasionally induce Tranquil mutations even outside the hourly event, helping you gather more Tranquil fruits over time.

SEE ALSO: Grow a Garden Codes Roblox (July 2025) 

Chi – The New Zen Currency

A new limited-time currency called Chi Points is introduced in the Zen Update. Chi represents spiritual energy and is used to buy special rewards during the event. There are two main ways to earn Chi:

  • Trading Tranquil Fruits: After you obtain Tranquil mutated crops, you can trade them to Tanuki – a Zen NPC in the hub – to convert them into Chi. The amount of Chi you get per fruit depends on the fruit’s rarity.

For example, a common tranquil fruit gives 1 Chi, rare gives 3, up to transcendent which gives 8 Chi.

If the fruit had additional mutations like gold or rainbow, you earn bonus Chi (gold adds +2, rainbow adds +4). Chi earned will be displayed on your screen (above your Sheckles count) once collected.

  • Completing Zen Quests: A new character Monk Unc offers daily Zen quests that also reward Chi (details in the Zen Quests section below). These quests encourage you to engage with the new content (like planting event seeds or harvesting Tranquil fruits) and grant Chi upon completion.

Chi Points are only valid during the Zen Event, so spend them before the event ends. They cannot be saved for after the event.

Tranquil Treasure Shop (Zen Shop)

The Tranquil Treasure Shop, also simply called the Zen Shop, is a limited-time shop where you can spend your Chi on exclusive items.

Talk to the Zen Shop NPC (Tanuki) in the event hub to access this shop. You can trade in one Tranquil plant at a time or use the “Take all my Tranquil plants” option to convert all at once into Chi, then use those Chi Points to buy goodies.

The Zen Shop stocks a variety of new seeds, pet eggs, decor, and more – all themed around tranquility and Japanese folklore. The inventory refreshes every hour, and you can even pay Sheckles to restock it if needed.

However, purchases must be made with Chi (you cannot directly spend Sheckles or Robux for most items in this shop).

Some of the most important Zen Shop items and their uses include:

  • Zen Seed Pack: Contains a random new Zen-themed crop seed (e.g., Monoblooma, Serenity, etc.). Use this to grow new event plants in your garden.

  • Zen Egg: Contains a random Zen pet. Hatching a Zen Egg can give one of six special pets (like Shiba Inu, Tanuki, Kappa, etc.).

  • Hot Spring: A decorative hot spring where the Nihonzaru (snow monkey) pet will bathe. While it’s bathing, it gives a small XP boost to all other pets nearby.

  • Zen Sand: A cosmetic ground tile item, purely for decoration (brings a Zen garden aesthetic to your plot).

  • Zenflare Seed: Grows into a Zenflare plant (a rare new flower).

  • Zen Crate: A loot box that contains random Zen-themed cosmetic items.

  • Soft Sunshine Seed: Grows into Soft Sunshine, a new legendary plant with high value.

  • Koi Fish of Fortune: This refers to the Koi pet, which grants a small bonus to egg hatch luck (increases your chances of better pet hatches).

  • Zen Gnome Crate: A loot box that unlocks Zen-themed garden gnomes (decorative NPCs).

  • Spiked Mango Seed: Grows into Spiked Mango, a new mythical rarity plant (very high value).

  • Tranquil Pet Mutation Shard: A special shard that can be used on one of your pets to give it the Tranquil mutation effect permanently. This can make the pet radiate calm energy similar to the event’s aura.

Not all of these items are available from the start – some are locked and require you to grow the Zen Tree to certain levels before they appear in the shop. The Zen Tree is explained in the next section.

Zen Shop Item Costs and Unlocks

Below is a table of Zen Shop items, their Chi costs, and what Zen Tree progress is needed to unlock them (if any):

Item Chi Cost Unlock Requirement
Zen Seed Pack 12 Chi None (available immediately)
Zen Egg 30 Chi None (available immediately)
Hot Spring 30 Chi None (available immediately)
Zen Sand 15 Chi None (available immediately)
Zenflare Seed 6 Chi Zen Tree grown 1 time
Zen Crate 15 Chi Zen Tree grown 2 times
Soft Sunshine Seed 20 Chi Zen Tree grown 3 times
Koi (Pet) 45 Chi Zen Tree grown 4 times
Zen Gnome Crate 15 Chi Zen Tree grown 5 times
Spiked Mango Seed 75 Chi Zen Tree grown 6 times
Tranquil Mutation Shard 200 Chi Zen Tree grown 7 times

Zen Shop “Tranquil Treasures” items and their costs/unlock criteria. Items with no requirement can be bought right away.

Other items become available after you have helped grow the Zen Tree a certain number of times (see below).

Note that many of these items can also be bought with Robux as an alternative (the numbers in the table’s second column of the source indicate Robux prices), but using Chi is the intended free route for event players.

SEE ALSO: Best Seed/Plants in Grow a Garden : Guide (Tier List & Tips)

Unk the Monk and Growing the Zen Tree

At the heart of the Zen Event is Monk Unc (a.k.a. Unk the Monk) and the Zen Tree.

This friendly monk NPC is located in the event hub near a small sapling. By contributing Tranquil fruits to him (via the Zen Channeller), you help nurture and grow the Zen Tree.

Each Tranquil fruit you submit adds progress to the tree’s growth bar.

After filling the bar, the Zen Tree grows to the next stage (it will visibly get larger behind the monk NPC).

The Zen Tree has multiple growth stages – you must fill the progress bar several times to fully grow it. Initially, it was stated there are 5 stages, but in practice there are 7 growth levels to unlock everything in the Zen Shop.

Every time you complete a growth stage (i.e., “grow the tree X times”), two things happen:

  • New Shop Items Unlock: As shown in the table above, each stage of the tree will unlock one of the locked Zen Shop rewards. For example, after the first growth, Zenflare seeds become available; after the fourth growth, the Koi pet becomes available, and so on. This system encourages players to keep feeding the tree to access all event content.

  • Reward Bundle: Each time the Zen Tree levels up, you also receive a bundle of rewards. These include Chi Points and sometimes items like Zen Seed Packs, Zen Pet Eggs, or crates. The higher the level, the better the rewards. For instance, by the final level, you can earn valuable items like the Spiked Mango seed or a Tranquil mutation shard for pets as rewards on top of unlocking them in the shop.

To grow the tree efficiently, keep collecting Tranquil fruits each hour and turn them in to Unk the Monk. The value of each fruit’s contribution may depend on its rarity (higher rarity fruits fill more of the bar).

If you have extra Tranquil fruits, remember you can either trade them for Chi or for tree progress – plan wisely. Generally, it’s a good idea to first use enough fruits to complete your current tree level (unlocking an item), then trade any excess for Chi to spend.

Zen Quests and Rewards

Aside from real-time farming, the Zen Update introduces Zen Quests offered by Monk Unc. Each day, Monk Unc gives three random quests related to the event.

These quests are simple tasks but might require some work and strategy. Examples of Zen Quest objectives include:

  • Planting specific seeds (e.g. “Plant 3 Monoblooma Seeds”, “Plant 20 Tomato Seeds”, “Plant 5 Apple Seeds”).
  • Growing certain pets to a target age (e.g. “Grow a Bunny to age 10”, “Grow a Shiba Inu to age 10”).
  • Harvesting Tranquil fruits (e.g. “Harvest the Tranquil mutation 5 times”).
  • Crafting items or earning currency (e.g. “Craft 1 Reclaimer” tool, or “Earn 1,500 Sheckles” in the game).

You can choose to skip a hard quest by paying 89 Robux, but it’s optiona. Completing Zen quests is worthwhile because they reward you with Chi and help speed up your progression.

In fact, if you manage to complete all the unique Zen quests at least once during the event, you earn a special bonus: 1 Zen Seed Pack, 10 Chi, and 1 Zen Egg for free.

The Zen Egg reward is especially valuable, as it lets you hatch a random event pet without spending Chi.

Strategy tip: Many Zen quests revolve around Tranquil plants. To complete them faster, focus on maximizing your Tranquil mutations. Using pets and items synergistically can help – for example, the Tanchozuru pet (a crane) can occasionally cause nearby fruits to become Tranquil on its own.

You can also use a Tranquil Pet Mutation Shard on one of your pets to have a permanent source of Tranquil aura in your garden. Once you have at least one Tranquil fruit, deploy a Spinosaurus or T-Rex pet (if you have one) to spread that mutation to other fruits, and use Raccoon or Giant Ant pets to duplicate mutated fruits.

This way, you’ll rack up Tranquil harvests quickly for your quests and for earning Chi.

New Seeds and Plants in the Zen Update

The Zen Update adds a variety of Zen-themed plants that you can grow. Most of these new seeds can be obtained from the Zen Seed Pack (purchased with Chi) or unlocked as you progress the event.

Here is the list of new seeds introduced in this update:

  • Monoblooma – A mystical flower with a tranquil aura. (Uncommon drop from Zen Seed Pack)

  • Serenity – A calming plant symbolizing peace.

  • Taro Flower – A beautiful taro plant variant.

  • Zen Rocks – A decorative rock formation (technically a “plant” in game terms).

  • Hinomai – A special plant with ties to Japanese folklore (its name hints at the sun).

  • Maple Apple – A fusion of a maple leaf and apple, very rare. This is the rarest seed from the Zen pack at only ~0.5% chance. If you manage to get one, consider yourself lucky!

  • Zenflare – A radiant flower that glows softly. (Unlocks after one Zen Tree growth stage)

  • Soft Sunshine – A gentle sun-like plant of legendary rarity. (Unlocks after three growth stages)

  • Spiked Mango – A mythical spiky mango plant with high sale value. (Unlocks after six growth stages)

  • Dragon Sapling – A young dragon tree plant. (Mentioned in patch notes; likely obtained through special means or packs during the event.)

Each new plant often has a higher base price or unique look, making your garden more lucrative and interesting.

For example, Soft Sunshine and Spiked Mango are among the most valuable, given their legendary and mythical status. Try to collect as many of these new seeds as possible before the event ends, especially the rarer ones which might not return easily.

(Note: The Zen Seed Pack yields six of the above plants – Monoblooma, Serenity, Taro Flower, Zen Rocks, Hinomai, and Maple Apple – with Maple Apple being the hardest to get. The other plants like Soft Sunshine, Zenflare, etc., come from either direct Chi purchases or event progression.)

SEE ALSO:

New Pets and Zen Egg

Pet lovers have a lot to be excited about in the Zen Update. There are seven new pets introduced, each inspired by Japanese culture or mythology.

Six of these pets can be obtained by hatching Zen Eggs (from the shop or as quest rewards), and one pet (Koi) is bought directly from the Zen Shop. The new pets are:

  • Shiba Inu: A cute dog pet. Trait: Occasionally digs up a random seed for you, with better odds than most pet.

  • Nihonzaru: A Japanese snow monkey pet. Trait: If you have a Hot Spring placed, the Nihonzaru will bathe in it, giving a small XP boost to all other pets while it’s in the hot spring.

  • Tanuki: A playful raccoon-dog pet. Trait: Sometimes causes random mischief by performing random helpful actions around your garden (e.g., watering plants, fertilizing, etc.).

  • Tanchozuru: A red-crowned crane pet. Trait: Occasionally emits a calming aura that can mutate nearby fruits into Tranquil versions. This pet is great for passively generating Tranquil fruits.

  • Kappa: A turtle-like water spirit pet. Trait: Occasionally splashes water on nearby crops, mutating them into Wet variants; it even has a chance to upgrade Wet fruits into the rarer Bloodlit mutation.

  • Kitsune: A mythical nine-tailed fox pet (very rare). Trait: Uses its mystical tails to apply special Chakra or Foxfire Chakra mutations to another player’s fruit, then duplicates that fruit and gives a copy to you. In simpler terms, the Kitsune can magically fetch you a copy of someone else’s crop by mutating it – a truly unique and powerful ability!

  • Koi (Fish of Fortune): A colorful koi fish pet. Trait: Grants a small luck bonus for hatching eggs (increasing the chance of rarer pet outcomes). The Koi pet is not obtained from the Zen Egg gacha; instead, you unlock it in the Zen Shop for 45 Chi after growing the Zen Tree 4 times. Its luck-boost ability makes it valuable if you plan on hatching many eggs.

The Zen Egg item will randomly hatch into one of the first six pets listed above (Shiba Inu through Kitsune).

Each Zen Egg gives one pet, with common ones like Shiba Inu being much more likely and the legendary Kitsune being extremely rare (about 0.08% chance). If you’re aiming for the Kitsune, be prepared to open many eggs or trade with other players!

Completing all Zen quests will net you at least one free Zen Egg, and you can buy more for Chi if needed. Keep in mind that trading with other players or the community might be an option if you get duplicate pets; the Kitsune’s special ability will make it highly sought after.

Other Additions and Changes in the Zen Update

The Zen Update brings several useful improvements beyond the main event:

Garden Save Slots: You can now buy an extra save slot via the mailbox near your garden. This lets you try new layouts without losing your original one. Likely costs Robux or a high amount of Sheckles.

Spray Merchant: A new NPC sells rare Mutation Sprays like Verdant, Disco, Wet, and Windstruck. These can trigger specific crop mutations without relying on weather. Wet and Windstruck sprays cost 50M Sheckles or can be bought with Robux.

New Weather Events: Besides the Zen Aura, events like Crystal Beam and others may occur randomly or be triggered by devs, offering unique effects and mutations.

New Mutations: Alongside Tranquil, look out for new ones like Chakra from Kitsune or others tied to sprays and pets. Great for mutation collectors.

Cosmetics: Over 15 new items were added including Zen decor, gnomes, and structures like the Whispering Torii gate. Perfect for creating a peaceful garden theme.

New Code – torigate: Redeem this code for a free Whispering Torii shrine gate. Enter it in-game via Settings → Code box → Claim.

Bug Fixes: The update includes UI improvements, better weather balance, fixed visual bugs, and resolved the Horned Dinoshroom value issue, ensuring smoother gameplay.

Conclusion

The Zen Update in Grow a Garden is a content-rich event that combines peaceful aesthetics with exciting new gameplay mechanics.

Over the event’s one-week duration, you’ll be busy collecting Tranquil fruits, converting them into Chi, and unlocking a wide array of seeds, pets, and items that bring a calm Zen vibe to your garden. Make sure to participate in the hourly Zen Aura events, complete Monk Unc’s Zen quests, and grow the Zen Tree to its full potential to unlock everything.

Don’t forget to redeem the torigate code for a free themed item and consider utilizing the new save slot to preserve your beautifully decorated Zen garden.

With this guide, you have all the up-to-date details needed to thrive during the Zen Event – from understanding the new mutation mechanics to knowing what each reward does.

Time is limited, so dive in and enjoy the tranquility (and generous profits) while it lasts.

Good luck, and happy gardening in this Zen paradise!