Hydroponics

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Hydroponics

Hydroponics is the process of growing plants with added nutrients, inside of water instead of soil; some departments might still include rooms with soil mounds.
A Botanist performs this role.
While this department exist primarily to help give ingredients to the Chef and feed the whole station, it also occasionally communicates with Chemists, Cargo and the rest of Service.

Starting the shift

The department in a high population station

The Hydroponics department involves using special machines to grow plants; these are the Hydroponic Trays .
Most plants are readily available from the start of the shift, although you can obtain special seeds with the help of Cargo, Salvage Specialists or by exploring the maintenance hallways for leftovers, or hidden rooms.
The Chef will come visit the department often, as will Service Workers, but it's not rare for Chemists to come asking for medicinal plants.

Equipment

All of Botany's equipment has the single and only purpose to help the Botanist obtain plants as efficiently as possible. While some objects can have different uses, making sure that you get the desired outputs out of the seeds you plant is the main objective.

Furniture and Machines

Image Name Usage
Seed Vending Machine Contains 5 of every common seed.
Nutrimax Dispenses all of the tools found in the Tools section.
Seed Extractor Insert a plant into this machine to extract generic seeds. Note that on some plants, you can alternatively use Plant Clippers on the plant before its final harvest instead. A plant clipper will retain any genetics / nutrient effects of the plant whilst the Seed Extractor will reset it to the default generic seed.
Water Tank Contains a large quantity of liquid Water. Use a bucket or container on the tank and then on the tray that needs watering. Without water, plants will not grow.
Grinder Located in the kitchen and/or Chemistry lab. Put a drinking glass or a beaker in and grind up the plants. Eject the beaker.
Cooking Use for tobacco, cannabis, and aloe. 10 seconds each.

Tools

Image Name Usage
Mini Hoe Removes weeds
Plant Clippers Takes samples (seeds) from plants. Overuse will decrease the health of the plant. Underuse can lead to a lack of seeds. Some plants are multi-harvest plants and so can be clipped at the final harvest. Other plants are single-harvest plants so should be clipped each time they are harvested. If you have power and a Seed Extractor, you can potentially use it instead however you will lose the effects of any genetics or nutrients like Robust Harvest.
Scythe Sharp, helps harvest
Hatchet For cutting wood and tower caps. Needed to remove dead / old trees.
Spade Removes plants from tray. Needed to remove dead / old plants (that aren't trees). Can be used as a rudimentary weapon.
Bucket Used to transfer water. If dropped, spills contents on the floor. Holds 250u of liquid.
Bottle Used to transfer water 5u at a time. Holds 30u. If dropped, shatters.
Drinking Glass A Botanist's primary mixing container. Holds 50u of liquid and ingredients. If dropped, shatters.
Plant Bag For transporting plant materials. When holding the bag, hold left click to pick up multiple plants at a time. When holding the bag, left click on a plant / seed to put it in the bag. Left click on a table (not a counter or floor) in order to empty the bag onto it. Right click on the bag to get the option to dump the contents where you are standing.
Sterile Swab Used to transfer pollen from one plant to another for cross-pollination.
Syringe While holding the syringe, press Z to activate 'Draw' rather than 'Inject' to draw from the glass of ground plants. To fill a syringe to full, you will need to put 4-5 plants into the grinder. Once full, pass it to the Chemistry lab and tell them what it is so they can label it and hand it to the medical team.
EZ Nutrient Adds nutrients to plants
Robust Harvest Increases plant potency (and size) up to 50 (i.e. half of max potency). Add up to 15u to a Hydroponics Tray. Be sure to use a Plant Clipper to harvest seeds (that will also be potent).
Pest Spray - contains pest killer Kills pests
Weed Spray - contains weed killer Kills weeds
Plant-B-Gone Kills plants
Left-4-Zed Mutagenic, causes plant life to become highly unstable
Fertilizer such as ammonia and diethylamine adds Nutrients over time.

Crates

A Botanist can request crates from a Cargo_Technician that contain seeds. Most seeds will be available either in Hydroponics lockers or the SeedMaker. Some exotic seeds will need to either be purchases from Cargo or mutated.

  • Seed Crate - An assortment of seeds available from a SeedMaker. e.g. carrot, chilli, corn, eggplant, lemon, oat, onion, potato, sugarcane, tomato, wheat
  • Exotic Seed Crate - An assortment of rare seeds. e.g. banana, cannabis, egg-plant, fly amanita, nettle, pineapple, tobacco, tower cap

Seeds

Plant Name Description Plant Image Produce Image
Aloe vera Produces aloe, which can be used to make aloe cream. Aloe cream is useful for treating burns.
Ambrosia vulgaris Produces ambrosia vulgaris which is poisonous raw but can be used to make medicine.
Apple tree Produces apples, which can be eaten for light sustenance. They are also used in various cooking recipes.
Banana tree Produces bananas, which can be eaten for light sustenance. They are also used to make Banana bread or pulped for medicine. Their peels are useful for making people slip.
Cannabis Produces cannabis leaves which can be dried and then crafted into a joint or blunt. Seeds come from Exotic Crates
Carrot Produces carrots. Carrots are used in various cooking recipes. Carrot Juice be used in healing eye damage
Chanterelle mushrooms Produces chanterelle mushrooms, which can be eaten for light sustenance. They are also used to make Mushroom pizza.
Chili bush Produces chilis, which can be eaten for light sustenance. They are also used to make Bowls of chili, Enchiladas, and Queso.
Corn stalk Produces corn, which can be eaten for light sustenance. When ground in a grinder, it becomes cornmeal. Corn is used to make Popcorn and Enchiladas.
Eggplant Produces eggplant, which can be eaten for light sustenance. They are also used to make Vegetable Pizza.
Egg Plant Produces eggs slower than an animal can. Are used in Cooking.
Fly Amanita Are used in Cooking.
Galaxy thistle Produces galaxy thistle which can eaten raw as medicine or ground to produce a liquid medical chemical.
Gatfruit tree Produces gatfruit. Very illegal.
Lemon tree Produces lemons. Lemons are used in various cooking recipes. They also help prevent scurvy.
Lingzhi Produces lingzhi which can eaten raw as medicine or ground to produce a liquid medical chemical.
Nettle bush Produces nettles which are poisonous raw but can be used to make medicine.
Oats Produces oat bushels. Oats are used in various cooking recipes.
Onion Produces onions, which can be eaten for light sustenance. A Chef can slice these with a knife to make onion slices which are used in various cooking recipes.
Red onion Produces red onions, which can be eaten for light sustenance..
Pineapple bush Produces pineapple, which can be eaten for light sustenance. Pineapples are used in various cooking recipes. Seeds come from Exotic Crates
Poppy flower Produces poppies which can eaten raw as medicine or ground to produce a liquid medical chemical.
Potato Produces potatoes, which can be eaten for light sustenance. Potatoes are used in various cooking recipes.
Space tobacco Produces space tobacco leaves. Unused?
Sugarcane Produces sugarcane. Sugarcane can be ground into sugar and used in various cooking recipes.
Tobacco Produces tobacco leaves which can be dried and then crafted into a blunt. Seeds come from Exotic Crates
Tomato Produces tomatoes, which can be eaten for light sustenance. They are also used to make various Pizzas, Spaghetti, and Bowls of chili. Can also be thrown for fun.
Tower cap Produces tower caps. Tower caps are a source of logs. A hatchet is needed to chop these trees down. The resultant produce can be turned into wood planks via a hatchet. Wood planks are used in Construction
Wheat Produces wheat bushels. Wheat can be used in a grinder to produce flour which can be mixed with water to make dough or used in various cooking recipes.

mutations(WIP)

when useing unstable mutagen on a plant it has a chance to mutate in to a new species

Plant Name original plant Description Plant Image Produce Image
Ambrosia Deus Ambrosia vulgaris N/A
Blue Space Tomato Tomato similar to a regualar tomato but contains space lube
Blood Tomato Tomato N/A

minor mutations are mutations that can happen to any plant.

mutation effect
screaming screams when harvested
bio-luminescence plant and produce glow
ligneous requires a hatchet to be harvested
high yield produces more produce
less water requires less water to grow
long life longer life cycle
seedless fruit cannot be made in to seeds
weed resistant less likely to get weeds
pest resistant less likely to get pests
low light requires less light to grow
toxin tolerance toxins have less of an effect
heat resistant less prone too heat deamage
low pressure tolerance resistant to low pressure
high pressure tolerance resistant to high pressure
slip makes you slip on the fruit
sentient the plant becomes a sentient(a ghost role)
kudzu turns in to a rapidly spreading kudzu vine that will take over hydroponics if not killed with herbicide

Chemicals

The raw plant can be eaten for a small medical effect or poison. This effect can be boosted if the plant was grown with Robust Harvest. Alternatively, the plant can be processed into a more powerful medicine.

Plant Name Properties Description
Aloe vera 10 seconds: 10 Aloe cream.
Aloe & Dermaline
Dermaline can be ingested or injected to heal burn/shock damage. Aloe cream can be applied to the body to greatly heal burn/shock damage. Aloe can be eaten.
Ambrosia vulgaris Kelotane & Desoxyphredrine Kelotane heals burns, but is less effective than Dermaline. Desoxyephedrine causes poison damage and stuttering, but makes you somewhat stun/knockdown resistant.
Banana tree Pulped Banana Peel Effective against internal bleeding.
Chilli bush Capsaicin Oil Causes caustic damage.
Galaxy Thistle Stellibinin An anti-toxin that heals against amatoxin damage.
Lingzhi Ultravasculine & Epinephrine Ultravasculine rapidly flushes toxins. Epinephrine brings back people from a critical state. Do not overdose.
Nettle bush Histamine A poison that can range from mildly annoying to lethal depending on the dosage. Used to mass produce Ultravasculine
Poppy flower Bicaridine Used for brute damage/stabilize someone who is badly beaten.
Galaxy Thistle & Aloe vera Siderlac & Dermaline Siderlac heals against caustic damage.

Plant Genetics

You can Examine a Seed to see its Yield and Potency.

Potency starts at 5 out of the Seed Extractor / Vending Machine but can be increased to 50 via 15u of Robust Harvest. Max potency is 100 and can only currently be achieved via mutations (e.g. via Unstable Mutagen). Potency affects the size of the plant and amount of chemicals it provides in the Reagent Grinder. For example, highly potent medical herbs break down into more medicine and can be eaten for more pronounced effect and higher number of bites. A higher potency in wheat equates to higher amounts of flour produced.

Yield differs by plant and can only be modified by mutation (e.g. via Unstable Mutagen). Yield affects the number of plants that will be harvested when a planted seed has grown.

Plants treated with Unstable Mutagen will undergo random genetic mutations. The more unstable mutagen, the more mutations but the higher likelihood the plant will die before harvest. Since many genes are essential to a plant's survival, randomly mutating them has a high probability of killing the plant. However, mutation is the only way to get some genes.

Plants can also be cross-pollinated with one another for a chance to transfer traits and other desirable properties. To transfer pollen from one plant to another, use a sterile swab. Avoid pollen cross-contamination! Different species can be crossed to produce hybrids. Since cross-pollination is also probabilistic, it may take several tries for you to transfer the traits that you desire.

To reset the plant's genetics, put its produce into a SeedMaker. To retain the genetics, instead use Plant Clippers