Stealing is a night mechanic in Grow a Garden 2. Do not try to plan a raid during the day. Use daytime to plant, sell, prepare gear, and choose a nearby target. When the sky changes to night, the stealing window opens.
Pick a garden that is close to your own base. The Garden button is not available while you are carrying a stolen crop, so you cannot grab a crop and teleport home. You have to walk back. A far garden gives the owner and nearby players more time to chase, block, or attack you before you bank the stolen item.
Start with undefended or lightly defended gardens. If a garden has obvious fences, combat plants, traps, or pets, do not run straight through the middle unless you know how those defenses work. Mushrooms, door crowbars, Raccoon pets, and other raid tools are community-reported details, and many exact interactions still need live-game confirmation. The confirmed route is the basic one: enter at night, interact with a crop, and return home on foot.
Once you enter another garden, look for a crop that is ready and worth the return trip. On PC, use the visible interaction prompt, such as E if that is what your client shows. On mobile, use the on-screen interaction. After you pick up the crop, leave immediately. Do not stand in the target garden looking for a second item unless you are sure the owner is absent and the route back is clear.
Expect other players to respond. Owners can stay in their base at night, and protective pets, attacking crops, shovels, flashbangs, freeze rays, and other gear may stop or slow a raid. The exact effect of each counter can change, so the reliable stealing rule is movement: steal from close gardens, take one good crop, and return before the fight starts. If you get greedy, the walk back becomes the real risk.
Treat mushroom, Raccoon pet, and door crowbar details as community-reported until confirmed in-game. Jump Mushroom, Shrink Mushroom, Invisibility Mushroom, Raccoon pets, and door crowbars may matter for raids, but cooldowns and exact interactions are not confirmed. Test those tools on low-value raids before planning your whole route around them.
If you do not want other players to steal from you while you raid, do not leave your own high-value crops exposed. Harvest valuable ready crops before night, or set up a defense route first. Stealing and defense are linked: every minute you spend in another garden is a minute your own garden may be open to someone else.