Hydroponics basin
Hydroponics basin
An artificial nutrient bath for growing plants. The nutrients pumps must work continuously; the plants will die if power is cut.
Base Stats
- Type
- Building – Production
- Market Value
- 230
[Note] - HP
- 180
- Flammability
- 50%
- Path Cost
- 30 (30%)
Building
- Size
- 1 × 4
- Minifiable
- False
- Placeable
- True
- Passability
- pass through only
- Cover Effectiveness
- 30%
- Blocks Wind
- False
- Terrain Affordance
- Medium
- Power
- -70 W
- Cleanliness
- -3
Creation
- Required Research
- Hydroponics
- Skill Required
- Construction 4
- Work To Make
- 2,800 ticks (46.67 secs)
- Resources to make
100 + 
1- Deconstruct yield
- 50 + 0 - 1
- Destroy yield
- 25 + 0 - 1
A hydroponics basin is a production building that provides a highly fertile area for growing crops fast and in areas that otherwise would not support them..
Hydroponics basin(s) work indoors and outdoors, and don't short circuit in the rain.
Acquisition
Hydroponics basins can be constructed once the Hydroponics research project has been completed. They require 100 Steel, 1 Component, 2,800 ticks (46.67 secs) of work, and a Construction skill of 4.
Summary
A powered hydroponics basin acts as a terrain with 280% soil fertility, twice that of rich soil. The exact speed boost depends on the Fertility Sensitivity of the plant in question. For example, rice gets the full 280% effect, while potatoes won't benefit nearly as much.
Hydroponics basins are placed on the ground, and default to planting rice plants. In order to function, they require 70 watts of power, day and night. This is absolutely critical, as when unpowered, its plants will wither very quickly. They can't be uninstalled, only deconstructed for half their value as usual. Each basin has a cleanliness value of -3, making a large hydroponics farm a very "dirty" prospect.
Hydroponics only provides soil fertility, so all other plant growth conditions must be met. This isn't a problem in the growing season while outdoors, but in order to regulate temperature, you must grow indoors, under a roof, and use a building like a heater. The sun lamp is required to provide light in the absence of sunlight (due to the roof). Note that standing lamps aren't suitable for crop growth: plants require at least 51% light, while standing lamps provide a maximum of 50% lighting and do not "stack".
Colonists will automatically plant only 1 type of plant per basin. The following plants can be grown in hydroponics basins:
Analysis
Hydroponics basins can almost triple (280%) the output compared to standard fields on the same footprint. This alone makes them a no-brainer for many players. However, this output comes at nearly triple the labour - hydroponics only increases growth rate, not harvest yield. So if growers and harvesters are already in high demand, then adding hydroponics won't help. Also, hydroponics has a much weaker effect on plants with lower fertillity sensitivity, like potatoes.
Power is absoultely critical to use, as plants will quickly die without it. It is recommended to have batteries and/or alternative power sources in the case of breakdowns and conduit explosions. A long solar flare will kill all hydroponic crops, though colonists can harvest crops to prevent a total loss.
Not all crops may grow in hydroponics. The following plants can't be grown in a hydroponics basin:
When making a "greenhouse", you must consider other plant needs. Temperature is a key issue when growing crops; it can only be changed when indoors and under a roof. Once in a room, heaters and coolers are the best ways of regulating temperature. Sun lamps are required to grow most crops (all crops in the base game) under a roof, in the absence of sunlight. Sun lamps in particular consume a large amount of power, so that must be taken into consideration.
The DLC-exclusive plants Fibercorn
and Nutrifungus do not require a sun lamp to function, which saves a lot of power. Fibercorn can grow under a standing lamp (requiring only 30% light), and Nutrifungus must not have any light. However, their extremely low Fertility Sensitivity makes building hydroponics basins rather questionable.
Sun lamp arrangement
It is possible to fit 24 hydroponics basins inside the "brightly lit" area of a sun lamp with the following configuration:
This Setup will use 4580W at day and 1680W at night. A Solar generator produces 1700W and a Geothermal generator 3600W, so three Solar Generators (and a few Batteries) or one Geothermal generator (plus a little help) are needed to power it.
If there is a roof over the hydroponics area, it may be wise to use the four empty tiles for roof support columns. This is not necessary if there are supports immediately outside the sun lamp's radius. These tiles could also be used for plant pots or art to boost growers' mood.
Outdoors
Alternatively, you can opt to put all your hydroponics basins outdoors, using the natural light outside to grow plants. This negates the controlled temperature and light level advantage of indoor greenhouses, but saves a great deal of power.
This method is very effective, for example, in an Extreme Desert which has a year-round growing season but not much available soil.
See also
Version history
- 0.0.245 - Balanced down hydroponics growth rate.
- 0.3.410 - Fertility increase and requires power or the plants die. You can also now set what to grow on them.
- Since Beta 19 it now requires components to build, and the default crop was changed to rice (from potatoes). It also received a remodel.
The Old Hydroponics Texture
