Plants vs. Zombies/Plants

Bloom 'n' Doom Seed Co. plants are your primary line of defence against the brains-hungry zombies. There are a 48 plants in total, each with their own strengths, weaknesses and associated tactics. You initially start with a small amount of plants, but most levels in Adventure mode will reward with a new type of plant when won.

The order of the plants on this page is as it appears in "The Suburban Almanac"; the in-game bio of each plant and zombie and serves as a rough order of which each plant is obtained.

Peashooter
The peashooter is your first weapon against zombies. Once you place it, if a zombie appears in its row, it fires a pea every two or so seconds at the zombie. The Peashooter is quite cheap and it recharges quickly, so it is quite easy to get many on field in a short period of time. Generally peashooters should be used as a start-up unit. As the level progresses, gradually replace them with stronger units and plant peashooters in the next row. "How can a single plant grow and shoot so many peas so quickly? Hard work, commitment, and a healthy, well-balanced breakfast of sunlight and high-fibre carbon dioxide make it all possible."
 * Type: Offensive
 * Damage: Normal
 * Cost: 100 sun
 * Recharge: Fast

- Peashooter

Sunflower
The sunflower is your backbone daytime gathering unit. Sunflowers produce extra sun, allowing you to plant more plants. The more sunflowers you have, the faster you will get sun. Since sunflowers have no attack, they are best kept as far away from zombies as possible.
 * Type: Economic
 * Sun Production: Normal
 * Cost: 50 sun
 * Recharge: Fast

Twin Sunflower
The twin sunflower upgrade card is used to convert sunflowers to twin sunflowers, which effectively counts as the production rate two sunflowers taking up the space of one. You must plant a normal sunflower first, then plant the twin sunflower over the top.
 * Purchase price: 5000 coin
 * Sun Production: Double
 * Cost: 150 sun
 * Recharge: Very slow

Cherry Bomb
The cherry bomb is a plant that explodes a split second after it is placed, immediately destroying all zombies within a one-square radius around it. The Cherry Bomb is useful when you want to thin out a horde of zombies, or for use as an insurance policy when your defences are breached. Detonating Cherry Bombs do not affect your plants, but do require a clear square to be placed. "I wanna explode!"
 * Type: Instant-effect
 * Damage: Kills most zombies instantly
 * Cost: 150 sun
 * Recharge: Very slow

- Cherry #1

"No, let's detonate instead!"

- Cherry #2


 * After intense discussion, they agree to explodonate.

Wall-nut
The wall-nut is your first passive-defensive weapon. The wall-nut serves only as a barrier to slow down approaching zombies. It takes a zombie about two to three times longer to eat a wall-nut than it does most normal plants. This is very useful when you would normally have insufficient firepower to take out a zombie before it reaches your offensive plants. Wall-nuts are ideally placed a square or two in front of your forward lines. "People wonder how I feel about getting constantly chewed upon by zombies. What they don't realise is that with my limited senses all I can feel is a kind of tingling, like a relaxing back-rub."
 * Type: Barrier
 * Toughness: High
 * Cost: 50 sun
 * Recharge: Slow

- Wall-nut

Potato Mine
The potato mine is a great little trap weapon, and due to the fact it costs only 25 sun, it's great for saving up sun in the early stages of each round. When planted, the potato mine does nothing, but after a few seconds, it sinks into the ground and explodes on contact with a zombie. Its explosion range is limited, but can take out two or three close-together zombies on the same row. However, before it arms, it is vulnerable to zombie attack. An ordinary zombie can cross three squares in the time it takes a potato mine to arm, so place it ahead of zombies for maximum efficiency. "SPUDOW!"
 * Type: Trap
 * Damage: Kills most zombies instantly
 * Cost: 25 sun
 * Recharge: Slow

- Potato Mine on detonation

Snow Pea
The snow pea looks similar to the Peashooter, except it has a blue head. However, unlike the Peashooter, the Snow Pea shoots icy peas which slow the movement speed of the first zombie it hits. Snow Peas thus get more hits in because of this, and a singular snow pea can easily destroy a Cone-head Zombie. They work best when paired with other types of offensive plants; there is usually little point of having more than one Snow Pea in any row.
 * Type: Offensive
 * Damage: Normal, but slows zombie movement
 * Cost: 175 sun
 * Recharge: Fast

Chomper
Think of the Chomper as a re-usable Potato Mine of sorts. The Chomper will instantly eat the first zombie it encounters, but it takes a while to digest each zombie, and it is vulnerable for fifteen to twenty seconds. The Chomper has a range of about one square, so it works best when planted just behind a barrier plant like the Wall-nut. It also works well as a backup or when one zombie has gotten past your front defences.
 * Type: Trap
 * Damage: Instantly kills one zombie
 * Cost: 150 sun
 * Recharge: Fast

Repeater
The repeater is the bigger brother of the Peashooter. Where the Peashooter fires one pea, the Repeater fires two. When playing this plant, use it to gradually replace your Peashooters. The extra firepower that they provide is well worth it.
 * Type: Offensive
 * Damage: Normal (for each pea)
 * Fire rate: Twice as fast as the Peashooter
 * Cost: 200 sun
 * Recharge: Fast

Gattling Pea
The Gattling Pea upgrade is pretty much the ultimate Peashooter. It fires four peas where the Peashooter fires one. This plant must be planted over the top of the Repeater, bringing its total cost to 450 sun per unit. However, the reward is well worth the effort and sun, but really only comes into play in later levels and survival mode.
 * Purchase Price: 5000 coin
 * Damage: Normal (for each pea)
 * Fire rate: Four times faster than Peashooter
 * Cost: 250 sun
 * Recharge: Very slow

Puff-shroom
The Puff-shroom is great for front-line night time defence. It's totally free and recharges quickly, so getting a couple of columns of them is a relatively quick thing to do. However, the tradeoff is that the Puff-shroom only has a range of 3 squares, so it needs to be planted in the midfield up to a maximum thickness of 3 columns. You need 3 to take out a cone-head zombie, but you will always lose one in the process. Since they're free, gradually replace them with more powerful units and keep advancing the line of Puff-shrooms forwards. But be warned that they'll fall asleep during the day, so they're only really useful at night. "I only recently became aware of the existence of zombies. Like many fungi, I'd just assumed they were fairy tales or move monsters. This whole experience has been a huge eye-opener for me."
 * Type: Offensive
 * Damage: Normal
 * Cost: 0 sun
 * Recharge: Fast
 * Sleeps during the day

- Puff-shroom

Sun-shroom
At night time, you should use Sun-shrooms instead of Sunflowers. The main reason is because sun doesn't drop randomly at night, so you're entirely reliant on your sun-producing plants. With the 50 sun that's usually given at the start of normal matches, you could have produced 2 Sun-shrooms for the same price of one Sunflower. Initially, Sun-shrooms produce only 15 sun, but after about a minute, they switch to producing 25 sun, like a Sunflower.
 * Type: Economic
 * Sun Production: Low, then normal
 * Cost: 25 sun
 * Recharge: Fast
 * Sleeps during the day

Fume-shroom
The Fume-shroom shoots fumes that can deal direct-damage to zombies using protective shields like the Screen-Door Zombie and Ladder Zombie. It has a limited range of only 5 squares, but unlike spores or peas, it is able to attack all zombies within its range. The Fume-shroom is best used as an incremental upgrade for the Puff-shroom. "I was in a dead-end job producing yeast spores for a bakery. Then Puff-shroom, bless 'im, told me about this great opportunity blasting zombies. Now I really feel like I'm making a difference."
 * Type: Offensive
 * Cost: 75 sun
 * Recharge: Fast
 * Sleeps during the day

- Fume-shroom

Gloom-shroom
The Gloom-shroom is an upgrade for the Fume-shroom. The Gloom-shroom sends spores out to all adjacent squares. The Gloom-shroom must be planted over a Fume-shroom.
 * Purchase Price:7500 coin
 * Cost: 150
 * Recharge: Very Slow
 * Sleeps during the day

Grave Buster
The Grave Buster is only used during the first night rounds, when gravestones appear on the lawn. During wave events, extra zombies rise from the gravestones, plus they take up space that could be used for planting. When planted on a grave, the Grave Buster will destroy the grave, usually leaving behind a silver coin. However, it takes five seconds to actually take out the grave, so you must defend it from zombies when used.
 * Type: Special purpose
 * Effect: Destroys gravestones, single use.
 * Cost: 75 sun
 * Recharge: Fast

Hypno-shroom
When eaten the Hypno-shroom will make a zombie turn around and fight for you. "Converted" zombies are easily distinguished, and the stronger the zombie you convert, the more effective it will be. "Zombies are our friends. They're badly misunderstood creatures who play a valuable role in our ecology. We can and should do more to bring them round to our way of thinking."
 * Type: Trap
 * Cost: 75 sun
 * Recharge: Slow
 * Sleeps during the day

- Hypno-shroom

Scaredy-shroom
The Scaredy-shroom has a long range, so it is able to fire at zombies from a long way away. However, if the zombies get within 2 squares in front of the Scaredy-shroom it will duck down and stop shooting. These plants are best kept away from zombies to be effective, and they complement the Fume-shroom and Puff-shroom well. "Who's there? Go away, I don't want to see anybody. Unless it's the man from the circus."
 * Type: Offensive
 * Damage: Normal
 * Cost: 25 sun
 * Recharge: Fast
 * Sleeps during the day

- Scaredy-shroom

Ice-shroom
The Ice-shroom doesn't damage zombies as such, rather upon planting, it immediately freezes all the zombies on screen. The zombies will gradually speed up again, but your plants will have ample opportunity to destroy them long before that happens.
 * Type: Instant-effect
 * Damage: Very light, immobilises zombies
 * Cost: 75 sun
 * Recharge: Very slow
 * Sleeps during the day

Doom-shroom
The Doom-shroom is essentially a supercharged cherry bomb. The Doom-shroom has a larger area-of-effect than the Cherry Bomb, but the trade off is that it creates a crater in the square it was planted in, which cannot be planted on. The crater does eventually disappear, but Doom-shroom is mostly for emergencies. "You're lucky I'm on your side. I could destroy everything you hold dear. It wouldn't be hard."
 * Type: Instant-effect
 * Damage: Kills most zombies instantly
 * Cost: 125 sun
 * Recharge: Very slow
 * Sleeps during the day

- Doom-shroom

Lily Pad
The Lily Pad is an aquatic plant that allows you to plant a non-aquatic plant on top. They also hold up zombies slightly, for the zombie must eat the plant on top, then the Lily Pad itself. Potato mines cannot be planted on Lily Pads.
 * Type: Special purpose
 * Cost: 25 sun
 * Recharge: Fast
 * Must be planted in water

Cattail
The Cattail is an upgrade for the Lily Pad which converts the normally harmless Pad into one of the most versatile offensive weapons. Cattails can fire on all lanes, and are able to destroy Balloon Zombies as well. However, on upgrade to a Cattail, you lose the ability to plant on top of it. "Woof! Woof woof woof! Does this confuse you? Do you expect me to say "Meow" like a cat because the word "cat" is in my name and I also look like a cat? That's not how things work around here. I refuse to be pidgeonholed."
 * Purchase Price: 10 000 coin
 * Type: Offensive
 * Cost: 225 sun
 * Recharge: Very slow

- Cattail

Squash
The Squash is a de-facto upgrade for the Potato Mine. Unlike the Potato Mine, the squash is ready to go from the instant it's planted. When a zombie gets within one square (forwards or backwards) of the Squash it will jump and crush the offending zombie. It is able to destroy close-packed clumps of zombies.
 * Type: Trap
 * Damage: Kills most zombies instantly
 * Cost: 50 sun
 * Recharge: slow

Threepeater
The Threepeater is a very expensive but powerful unit which fires peas across three lanes. It's the equivalent of a column of three peashooters in the space of one. Placed strategically, just two Threepeaters covers the whole play field.
 * Type: Offensive
 * Damage: Normal (each pea)
 * Cost: 325 sun
 * Recharge: Fast

Tangle Kelp
The Tangle Kelp is the Squash of the pool. When a zombie gets near it, it will pull the zombie underwater.
 * Type: Trap
 * Damage: Kills zombies instantly
 * Cost: 25 sun
 * Recharge: Slow
 * Must be planted in water

Jalapeno
The Jalapeno destroys all zombies in one lane, no matter where along the lane it is planted.
 * Type: Instant-effect
 * Damage: Kills most zombies instantly
 * Cost: 125 sun
 * Recharge: Very slow