Farming was added with the launch of the game under Hydroponics. You get the seeds, get some purified water, and start cultivating some fruits to sell or to use them to enhance your other endeavors. I’m going to go over the generalities of farming in this game and how to improve your farm to perfection.
All you need to know to start farming in Probably Stolen:
How to Unlock Hydroponics in Probably Stolen
There are two main ways of getting Hydroponics in Probably Stolen:
Start as a Hydroponic Farmer
Pick the background, and it will give you the starter kit:
| Starting Item | Quantity or Condition |
|---|---|
| Hydroponic Farming Manual | 1 |
| Hydroponic System (Old) | 1, Shabby |
| Hydroponic System (Decrepit) | 1, Shabby |
| Nutrifruit Seed | 2 |
| Fillerweed Seed | 2 |
| Sealed Water Ration (Small) | 2 |
| Hydroponic Nutrient Tablet Bottle | 1 |
| Retired Farmer Network Unlock | Already unlocked |
Or you can do it the usual way:
Unlock Retired Farmer through Joe Wild
Giving a call to Joe Wild and purchasing a regular contact with Joe Wild will let you get the same starter pack and the retired farmer. He will visit you the next day, and from then on, every Friday.
How to Use the Hydroponic System
The machine has four main parts. The first one is a power section where you insert the battery. Similar to many other machines in the game, this system also runs on batteries, so you’d better get your charging stations ready. The second one is also similar to other machines, where you put your desired modules. The third section is where you load the water in. The fourth one is where you put your seed in, and the last one is where you see the produce, and you can harvest your crop.
Put a working power cell, load the water, and add the necessary nutrients. Put in your seed and let it grow overnight.
All Hydroponic Crops, Growth Times, and Yields
There are seven crops in this game, and you can farm and harvest all of them. You start with Nurtifruits (Lou’s favorite) and then can branch out to whichever you want, depending on what your goal is with hydroponics.
Let’s take a look at the crops from a stat perspective:
| Crop | Base Progress | Base Harvest | Water per Effective Night | Preferred Mineral Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nutrifruit | 23 | 5 | 100 mL | 0.5–2.5% |
| Fillerweed | 11 | 4 | 287 mL | 0–2% |
| Coffee Beans | 21 | 8 | 100 mL | 1.75–3.25% |
| Kotton | 32 | 9 | 176 mL | 2–5% |
| Dream Cap | 28 | 8 | 100 mL | 1.75–3.25% |
| Hydroreed | 18 | 0 | 20 mL | 0–2% |
| BloomBerry | 18 | 8 | 100 mL | 1.25–2.75% |
Best Water and Mineral Levels for Farming
While you start your farming with base water or ghost water, nutrient-rich water is the water you should be aiming for. This mechanic is not just about putting as many nutrients as possible in the water and hoping for the best. Each crop has a mineral tolerance level that affects its health. If your water is below the tolerance level of the crop, its health will be reduced by -1, and if it’s above it, the plant’s health will be reduced by -0.5
Other water contaminants cause separate damage. The game accounts for heavy metals, chemical contaminants, microbes, organic waste, and acidic or alkaline contamination. So just putting in pure water will harm your harvest, as your crops didn’t receive the necessary nutrients to survive and grow healthily; in other words, they were starved.
Which Equipment Helps?
There are several pieces of equipment you can get from the retired farmer that would help you in this situation. You can use the Plant Analyzer to analyze the seed and see what requirements and stats are necessary for growing this plant. Then you can use an AquaScan to make sure your water is up to level with the standards of each plant.
How Plant Health Changes Harvest Size
The health and the size of a plant have a direct relationship; the higher the health of a plant is, the bigger the harvest will be. This is true for most products, with a few exceptions here and there.
Let’s take Nutrifruit as an example. You can get the green thumb achievement by producing a large Nutrifruit in a hydroponic system. To achieve at least one large produce, you need to keep the health of the plant above 70 till the day of the harvest. With 70, you can get at least 1 large fruit, but with 100, you get the biggest number of huge fruits from the harvest.
But how do we keep the health above 70? Simple. You need to keep an eye on several factors that affect the health of the plant: the stats of the seed, the quality of the water, the density of the nutrients in the water, and the charge of the battery to keep the system powered through the night.
Best Hydroponic Modules and Upgrades
There are several modules you can put into your machines to either increase their output or specialise them in one fruit. While most fruits have one, you can put two in for the dreamcap, each altering the harvested crop at the end.
| Module | Base Value | Main Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Nutrifruit Hydroponic Module | 150 | Increases Nutrifruit yield |
| Fillerweed Production Module | 115 | Increases Fillerweed production; sacrifices seed return |
| Kotton Auto Loom Module | 200 | Converts harvested Kotton Fiber into fabric |
| Hydroreed Filter Module | 105 | Produces Water Filters from Hydroreed |
| Dream Cap Neutralizer Module | 150 | Changes Dream Cap output into Meal Cap |
| Dream Cap Nightmare Module | 150 | Produces Nightmare Cap instead |
| Hydroponic Smuggler Module | 100 | Removes contraband classification from applicable growing seeds |
There’s really no best module to go for; it’s all depending on what crop you are going for and what your purpose is with that crop. There are also universal modules which you can put into the system, and if you want to learn about them, go read our articles on Modules in Probably Stolen.
Plant Genetics and DNA Manipulator
Here’s the advanced part of farming in Probably Stolen, where you can min-max your plants and get your desired result out of them by adding or removing traits from them. To start, you need to acquire the Joe Wild Network upgrade that has a baseline cost of 1,250 and requires Retired Farmer. It provides a DNA Manipulator, Gene Scanner, and four blank DNA Data Disks.
How Gene Editing Works
You pick up your desired seed, and the Gene Scanner will identify the traits (for example, Bountiful) within this seed. Then you can use the DNA Manipulator to extract that trait from the seed (resulting in the donor’s destruction) and add it to a disk. You can later on use that disk to add this trait to a suitable seed, but success is not guaranteed. So go into this section of the game with a trial-and-error mindset.
Best Crops to Grow for Money
If you are going for a simple farming and selling the produce perspective, then Nutrifruit is the choice to go for. If you are a winemaker and want to turn your products into wine, then you can go for Bloomberry. If you have a chemistry kit, then your choice is to go with either Dream Cap or coffee beans, and if you are looking to sell fiber, then Kotton is the crop for you.
My choice at first was Nutrifruit; you know, starter, easy-to-understand fruit, and then after I collected some income and expanded my shop, I got my hands on a chemistry kit and went with coffee. Those Caffeine Pills sell for 10 credits each, which is less than a single bean selling for 25 credits, but each seed gives you a lot of liquid caffeine to turn into many pills, and if the purity is high enough, you can gain more profit selling caffeine pills than selling raw beans.
FAQ
Hydroreed Doesn’t Produce Anything.
Hydroreed is your early-game way of filtering water; just putting the seed in will clear the water for you at the rate of 10% per night.
How Do I Remove an Existing Plant
Either harvest the plant when it’s ready, or remove the seed. You will get back the seed.
What is the Highest Growth output?
If you look at credits only, then it’s Kotton, but Kotton has a 6-day-long procedure, which is longer compared to other crops.
