3 easiest ways to get kelp in Minecraft's 1.18 update

Usable as compost, a snack (if dried), or even as furnace fuel in Minecraft, kelp is a nifty little ocean plant that has some decent upside and is quite easy to locate.

Although it's pretty easy to obtain, there's only a few ways to get kelp in Minecraft's Survival and Hardcore modes. Obviously in Creative Mode it can simply be plucked from the inventory at will, but otherwise obtaining it will take a few defined methods. Things may change as Mojang updates the game progressively, but for now there's only a few ways to obtain kelp. Fortunately, these ways are all quite simple and straightforward.

Minecraft: Quick and easy ways to obtain kelp

3) Finding it underwater

Kelp can appear in most ocean biomes (Image via Mojang)

Spawning in a majority of ocean biomes (except warm, frozen, and deep frozen variants), kelp can be seen grouped throughout the ocean floor, alongside seagrass. All players need to do is break it with their open hand or a tool in order to harvest it, which is made easier as it floats upward to the water's surface for collection. Breaking a kelp stalk at a certain point will also break all parts of the stalk above it.

In addition, as of Minecraft's 1.18 update, players can use shears on the tip of a kelp stalk in order to clip it and keep it from growing. But that doesn't exactly help players land more kelp.

2) Applying bone meal to kelp

Bone meal is known to accelerate the growth of many plants, kelp included (Image via Mojang)

If Minecraft players have already spotted some kelp and need a little more from a given stalk, they can try applying bone meal to it. Doing so should raise the height of the kelp stalk by one each time the bone meal is used, as long as the stalk has room to grow and enough water to submerge it. This tactic doesn't actually help players find kelp, but it does allow for them to get more out of the stalks that they manage to find underwater.

1) Buying kelp from the Wandering Trader

The trader may not always have the needed items, but purchasing kelp saves a trip (Image via Mojang)

When a trip to the ocean isn't in the cards, players who encounter the Wandering Trader can buy kelp from it for the price of three emeralds. This isn't always ideal, as the Wandering Trader's inventory changes over time with subsequent trips, but it is the quickest way to obtain kelp for a Minecraft player and saves them a trip to the ocean floor with or without bone meal.