How do you start hydroponic farming?
Place a Hydroponic System, give it power, water and a seed. It grows overnight.
Probably Stolen Hydroponic Farming Guide
Probably Stolen hydroponic farming happens in a Hydroponic System: give it power, a water container and a seed, and it grows overnight. Start with Fillerweed, the one seed the game calls "beginner-friendly": dirty water doesn't hurt it. For every other crop, check the seed with a Plant Analyzer, add Hydroponic Nutrient Tablets to keep the water's minerals in range, and use the cleanest water you can.
How hydroponic farming works in Probably Stolen
New to the game? Start at the Probably Stolen guide hub.
Hydroponic farming at a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| What you need | A Hydroponic System, a power source, a water container and a seed. Source: In-game text. |
| When it grows | Overnight. Source: In-game text. |
| Crops | Nutrifruit, Kotton, Dream Cap, Coffee Beans, Fillerweed, Hydroreed and Bloomberry. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Nutrients | Each seed has a mineral range; tablets add minerals to the water. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Dirty water | Hurts most plants; Fillerweed and Hydroreed ignore it. Source: The game code. |
| Seeds | From the Hydroponic Farmer start, the Retired Farmer and other sellers. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Nutrifruit seeds | Sterile until Eleanor's story releases them. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
How to start hydroponic farming
The Hydroponic System is "A compact hydroponic system. Requires a dedicated power source to function. Works overnight." Its instructions sum up the setup: "Insert a water container with the cleanest water you can get, a seed, and a power source with enough energy."
- Place the Hydroponic System in the store.
- Give it power. Put a charged power source in its Battery slot.
- Add water. Put a filled water container in its Water slot.
- Add a seed in the Seed Input slot.
- Go to bed. It grows overnight; the harvest lands in Produce Output.
The machine's status tells you what is missing: "Not enough water and power", "Not enough power", "Not enough water", "Awaiting Seed", then "Starting..." and "Growing...". The full machine list is in our machines guide.
The easy start. The Hydroponic Farmer start comes with a "Hydroponic Farming Manual", "Additional equipment (Hydroponic Systems)" and "a stock of Farming Supplies and Seeds", at the cost of "Increased starting rent". How it compares with other starts is in our starting scenarios table.
Which crop to grow
-
Fillerweed Seed -
Nutrifruit Seed -
Kotton Seed -
Dream Cap Spores -
Coffee Beans -
Hydroreed Seed -
Bloomberry Seed
| Seed | What you harvest | Seeds back? | What it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fillerweed Seed | Fillerweed | Yes | A cheap food filler |
| Nutrifruit Seed | Nutrifruit, in three sizes | Only after Eleanor's story releases them | Food |
| Kotton Seed | Kotton Fiber | Yes | Weaving into Kotton Fabric for chemistry |
| Dream Cap Spores | Dream Cap | Yes | Dream Dust, or food with a module |
| Coffee Beans | Coffee Beans | No; you plant the beans themselves | Caffeine |
| Hydroreed Seed | Hydroreed Filter, with its module | Yes | Cleaning water |
| Bloomberry Seed | BloomBerry, again and again | No; the bush keeps fruiting | Wine |
Grow Fillerweed first. It is the fastest crop in the game data, it gives seeds back, and dirty water doesn't hurt it. It is "used as a filler in meals to stretch rations". It is also the thirstiest crop, so keep its water topped up.
Nutrifruit is the station's staple food: "extremely nutritious, but purposefully seedless." Planting it works at any time, but the seeds are sterile until Eleanor's story releases the strain; after that, new Nutrifruit seeds are fertile. How that happens is in our Eleanor data drive section.
Coffee Beans are planted as they are and give no seeds back, so keep some beans aside to replant. Caffeine from coffee is covered in our caffeine pill section.
Dream Cap "Cause a slight euphoria and stomach pain when consumed. A key ingredient in Dream Dust". It counts as contraband unless you fit the Dream Cap Neutralizer module, which turns the harvest into Meal Cap. Turning Dream Cap into Dream Dust is in our Dream Dust section.
Kotton is the slowest crop and wants the most minerals. Kotton Fabric is "Used in chemistry to strain large particles from liquids. Far too coarse for water purification." It is listed with the other tools in our chemistry tools section.
Bloomberry is "A perennial bush. It doesn't die after fruiting." Its berries go into wine, covered in our Bloomberry section. "Use a hatchet on the planter to clear it."
How nutrient tablets work
-
Hydroponic Nutrient Tablet -
Plant Analyzer
A Hydroponic Nutrient Tablet "Contains minerals that are essential for plant growth. Can be added to a water container." Every crop has its own mineral range, and the plant loses health when the water's minerals drift outside it: too few minerals hurts more than too many. The plant also uses minerals up as it grows, so the water runs low over time.
The Plant Analyzer is "A specialized tool that can be used to analyse the growth of plants." Use it on a seed to see:
- "Optimal Nutriment Range" (the mineral range that seed wants)
- "Mineral Use" (how fast it uses minerals)
- "Water Usage"
- "Contaminant Sensitivity"
Kotton wants the most minerals; Dream Cap, Coffee Beans and Bloomberry have the narrowest ranges in the game data.
Does dirty water hurt your plants?
Yes, for most crops. Heavy metals, chemical contaminants, microbes, organic waste, acid and base in the water each cost the plant health, and dirtier water costs more. Kotton and Bloomberry are the most sensitive in the game data; Bloomberry's own description says "Keep its water clean for better bloomberries."
Two crops ignore contaminants:
- Fillerweed. Its seed is "not affected by nutrient or water quality." That holds for dirty water, but Fillerweed still has a wide mineral range, so don't skip tablets.
- Hydroreed. "The Hydroreed will purify the water it is in while growing." With the Hydroreed Filter Hydroponic Module it also gives you Hydroreed Filters, which "Remove certain type of contaminants when used inside a filter system". Water cleaning in general is in our water purification section.
Where to get Probably Stolen seeds and supplies
| Source | What you get |
|---|---|
| Hydroponic Farmer start | Hydroponic Systems, Farming Supplies and Seeds, the manual |
| Retired Farmer favor (Joe Wild's network) | "a Hydroponic Starter Kit": the manual, Fillerweed Seeds, Nutrifruit Seeds and Hydroponic Nutrient Tablets |
| Retired Farmer (visits "once a week") | "selling seeds and hydroponic equipment": seeds, tablets, the Plant Analyzer and hydroponic modules |
| Retired Chemist favor | A chemistry kit that includes Coffee Beans and Kotton Fabric |
| Plant Genetics favor | "a DNA manipulator, a gene scanner and blank DNA data disks" |
| Dr. Jackson | Sometimes a Hydroponic System, a Plant Analyzer or hydroponic modules |
| Supply Runner | Fillerweed Seeds |
| Shady Farmer | Coffee Beans and Nightmare Cap |
| Scavenger | Sometimes Kotton or Bloomberry seeds |
The favors are in our Joe Wild network table. You can also sell seeds: the Hydroponic Farmer customer says "I am also buying any seeds you got."
Hydroponic modules and plant traits
-
Fillerweed Production Hydroponic Module -
Nutrifruit Hydroponic Module -
Kotton Auto Loom Hydroponic Module -
Dream Cap Neutralizer Hydroponic Module -
Dream Cap Nightmare Hydroponic Module -
Hydroreed Filter Hydroponic Module
The general modules change the machine itself: efficiency lowers its power use, performance speeds up growth and quality raises the maximum yield; see our machine modules section. Six modules each work on one crop:
| Module | Effect |
|---|---|
| Fillerweed Production | "Fillerweed will no longer yield seeds", more Fillerweed |
| Nutrifruit | "Nutrifruit Yield +" |
| Kotton Auto Loom | "Produce Kotton Fabric instead of Kotton Fiber" |
| Dream Cap Neutralizer | "Remove Dream Cap Contraband Status", "Set type to Food": you harvest Meal Cap |
| Dream Cap Nightmare | Turns Dream Cap into Nightmare Cap, "a toxic variant" |
| Hydroreed Filter | Harvests Hydroreed as Hydroreed Filters |
Traits. Each seed carries traits such as Fast Grower, Bountiful, Hardy (less hurt by contaminants), Thirsty (uses more water), Nutrient-Poor or Infertile. Fillerweed, for example, is Hardy, Thirsty, Bountiful and a Fast Grower. The Plant Genetics favor in the seeds table is how you edit them.
Version notes and limits
This page doesn't give growth times, yields, mineral ranges or how much dirty water costs. The 100-Rev7 to Rev12 update fixed the "?" icon on Perennial plants such as Bloomberry; no growing rule changed. We will check this page again when the public build changes. Every item's Base Value is in our Probably Stolen items table.
Probably Stolen hydroponic farming FAQ
What should you grow first?
Fillerweed: fastest, gives seeds back, and dirty water doesn't hurt it.
How do Hydroponic Nutrient Tablets work?
They add minerals to the water. Keep the water inside the seed's "Optimal Nutriment Range", shown by a Plant Analyzer; too few minerals hurts more than too many.
Does dirty water hurt your plants?
Yes, for most crops. Fillerweed and Hydroreed ignore contaminants, and Hydroreed cleans the water it grows in.
Where do you get seeds?
The Hydroponic Farmer start, the Retired Farmer (favor and visits), the Supply Runner, the Shady Farmer, the Scavenger and Dr. Jackson.
How do you grow Coffee Beans?
Plant the beans directly. The harvest gives no seeds, so keep some beans back to replant.
Why don't my Nutrifruit plants give seeds?
Nutrifruit is "purposefully seedless": its seeds are sterile until Eleanor's story releases the strain. You can still grow it before that.
What do plant traits do?
They change how fast a plant grows, how much it yields, how much contaminants hurt it and how much water it uses.
Sources and version history for this guide: Probably Stolen sources and versions.
Spot an error or a post-patch change? See how we label evidence and handle corrections in the Editorial Policy.