Probably Stolen hydroponics guide
A Hydroponic System grows one seed at a time overnight. Give it a container of clean water, a seed and a charged battery, then collect the crop when the growth cycles finish. Plant health decides how big and how many the harvested items are, and health falls when the water lacks minerals or carries contaminants.
How do you start farming?
Three routes lead to farming:
- Hydroponic Farmer specialization: starts with the Hydroponic Farming Manual, extra equipment (Hydroponic Systems), a stock of farming supplies and seeds, and a higher starting rent.
- Retired Farmer network upgrade (350 credits): you immediately receive a Hydroponic Starter Kit, and a retired farmer visits weekly selling seeds and hydroponic equipment. This unlocks Advanced Farming content.
- Buying the Hydroponic System (base value 300 credits) and seeds directly.
The machine “works overnight” and needs its own power source. Its module bay takes ordinary and Hydroponic modules.
How long does each crop take?
Growth is counted in cycles. At base speed one cycle passes each night, and the Performance stat of installed modules speeds it up (at half weight in this machine). Quality adds to the harvest count, also at half weight.
| Crop (seed) | Cycles | Base harvest | Water per cycle | Sensitivity to contaminants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nutrifruit | 23 | 5 | 100 ml | normal |
| Kotton | 32 | 9 | 176 ml | high (x1.26) |
| Dream Cap | 28 | 8 | 100 ml | normal (x1.01) |
| Coffee | 21 | 8 | 100 ml | normal (x1.01) |
| Fillerweed | 11 | 4 | 287 ml | none |
| Hydroreed | 18 | 0 (no food) | 20 ml | none |
| Bloomberry | 18, then 10 per re-fruit | 8 | 100 ml | high (x1.25) |
Coffee Beans act as their own seed. Dream Cap is planted as Dream Cap Spores, which are contraband.
What does the plant need?
- Clean water. The seed description says to bring the cleanest water you can find. Each cycle the plant checks heavy metal, chemical contaminant, microbes, organic waste, acid and base in the tank, and the damage grows with the concentration. Fillerweed and Hydroreed ignore contaminants.
- Minerals. Every crop has a target mineral level and an allowed range. Kotton wants the most (target 350 in the game’s internal units), Dream Cap and Coffee sit at 250, Bloomberry at 200, Nutrifruit at 150, Fillerweed and Hydroreed at 100. Add Hydroponic Nutrient Tablets (5 credits) to the water container to raise minerals. Each cycle below the range costs 1% health, above the range costs 0.5%, and the plant consumes minerals as it grows.
- Enough water. Each cycle uses the amount in the table; the machine will not run without water or power.
A Plant Analyzer (base value 200) is the tool for studying a plant’s optimal growing conditions.
How does health change the harvest?
Health at harvest sets the item sizes and, for most crops, the count:
| Health | Result |
|---|---|
| 15% or less | Only small items, count halved |
| 16-30% | Mostly small, count x0.65 |
| 31-50% | Small and normal, count x0.8 |
| 51-70% | Normal, count x0.9 |
| 71-80% | Normal and some large |
| 81-90% | Mostly large |
| above 90% | All large (Nutrifruit can also yield huge items above 95%) |
Coffee works differently: it keeps its full count above 70% health, and at 70% or less the count shrinks to 80%, then 70% (50% or less), 60% (30% or less) and 50% (15% or less), with a minimum of 1.
What do the farm modules do?
Hydroponic modules change what a crop becomes and cost some Performance and Efficiency (power use).
| Module | Effect | Performance / Efficiency |
|---|---|---|
| Nutrifruit Hydroponic Module | +1 Nutrifruit per module | -10% / -10% |
| Kotton Auto Loom Hydroponic Module | Kotton Fabric instead of Kotton Fiber | -50% / -100% |
| Dream Cap Neutralizer Hydroponic Module | Dream Caps become Meal Caps, no contraband; +2 yield per module | +15% / +15% |
| Dream Cap Nightmare Hydroponic Module | Dream Caps become Nightmare Caps | -33% / -50% |
| Fillerweed Production Hydroponic Module | +4 Fillerweed, no seeds returned | 0% / -25% |
| Hydroreed Filter Hydroponic Module | Harvest yields a Hydroreed Filter per module | 0% / -15% |
| Hydroponic Smuggler Module | Growing seeds lose contraband status | 0% / 0% |
If both a Neutralizer and a Nightmare module are installed, the Neutralizer wins. Modules are locked while the machine is working.
Which crops matter for chemistry and wine?
Dream Cap feeds Dream Dust, Nightmare Cap feeds Nightmare Dust, and Coffee Beans feed Caffeine Pills. See the chemistry guide. Bloomberry gives BloomBerries for the wine guide. Kotton Fabric strains liquids in chemistry. Hydroreed purifies the water it grows in and, with its module, makes water filters.
How does plant genetics work?
Each seed has genetic traits with official names such as Fast Grower, Slow Grower, Bountiful, Sparse, Hardy, Frail, Thirsty, Drought Resistant, Fertile, Infertile, Perennial, Purifying and Polluting. Crops come with innate traits (Nutrifruit, for example, is born with Fast Grower, Bountiful, Hardy and Infertile). The Plant Genetics network upgrade (1,250 credits) gives you a DNA Manipulator, a Gene Scanner and blank DNA Data Disks, and Dr. Jackson then stocks DNA equipment. The manipulator extracts a trait to a disk or installs a trait on a seed; the higher the target’s genetic complexity, the lower the chance of success. Switch the Gene Scanner on to read genetics.
FAQ
Can I plant two seeds at once? One machine grows one seed. Use several systems.
Why is my crop small? Low plant health: check minerals and contaminants in the water container.
Does Bloomberry die after the harvest? No. It is perennial and starts a shorter fruiting cycle; use a hatchet on the planter to clear it.
Is Dream Cap legal? Dream Cap and its spores are contraband; the Neutralizer module turns it into the legal Meal Cap, and the Smuggler module strips contraband status from growing seeds.