How effective is Hydroponics?

[Sola]

I see that the basins can only hold a few plants each, I read that they cause plants to grow very quickly, but how much faster?

I tend to have 10X10 grow zones of rice/potato and its usually not fast enough to really stockpile
food. I dont really see how the yield from those hydro sunlamp rooms could be good. They hold maybe 30-40 plants each?

[Mr W]

Assuming you have it set up correctly 160% of normal for the crops that are supported.

[corisai]

And rice is either 210% or 230% (don't remember precise)

[grapplehoeker]

Effective? Since you stated in your other thread that you're out on the ice sheets, then hydroponics are absolutely necessary.

[PolecatEZ]

After a few hundred hours, I finally researched hydroponics for the first time on an ice-sheet map. The only downside is that in a solar flare everything dies and you have to start over...be prepared for an emergency harvest.

[ministrog]

I normally stockpile to 1k on normal biomes. When I'm relying on hydros.... I aim for 1.7k

[pkoko]

Do you folks fill the sunlamp spots with basins or leave room for prawns to walk?

[2much]

I leave room for colonists to walk all around the basins, but they still walk over the basins sometimes so...

[PolecatEZ]

Originally posted by Mandalore:

Originally posted by PolecatEZ:

After a few hundred hours, I finally researched hydroponics for the first time on an ice-sheet map. The only downside is that in a solar flare everything dies and you have to start over...be prepared for an emergency harvest.

Make sure to have ample stockpiles of food in the freezer if this happens. Also make sure you have enough geothermal power, and batteries to keep your colony going through the solar flare.

Batteries do nothing for a solar flare. Those are the ones that knock out everything electric like a giant EMP attack. They last just a few hours, but often that's when the storyteller decides you need to be raided. Those few hours are also long enough to kill everything in your hydroponics bins.

Less insidious are "Eclipses" which are what you're talking about...those can last a day or 3 and basically knock out all your solar power. I solve this problem entirely by never using solar...wind is where its at baby.