Hydroponics Feedback

[Val]

Alright, here it is! The write-up!

Blow up the gene manipulation machine. That's right! Get rid of it! This is Hydroponics, not Botanical Genetics! In its stead, since we now have hydroponic trays proper, let not the trick of plant mutation lie in gene manipulation, but instead with watering/feeding plants with the crap found around the station.

So what I'm getting is that research and hobochem is suddenly going to be extremely important to creating new species? Plant genetics are a very interesting thing indeed, but they're simply stupid the way they're implemented and way too troublesome to be worthwhile via the gene manipulator

I guess this is an acceptable substitution, but being to manipulate specific parts of a plant's genetics will be missed. In response, I propose that new fertilizers are going to be needed, other than just compost or growth boosters. Proper hydroponics trays is definitely what we need, as opposed to the current pots.

/tg/ has the right idea with this. They have different kinds of plant nutrients that affect things from the plant. One fertilizer is plain and only gives the plant nutrition. Another one increases its yield by a crazy amount and yet another one makes mutations more likely at the cost of the plant's health.

Guess that we can take a page out of their book and make a way to alter specific parts of a plant's genes via chemicals, if not outright mutations, each with a different cost to them.

A nutrition system would be ideal in this circumstance. You could compost things into nutrient solution as opposed to just plain 'compost' that comes in the bags, and use that to fulfill a plant's nutrient needs. It'd give more to do than simply running around with a watering can, as it will add having to run around with other chemicals as well.

Nuts2U Vendor (should be placed next to the seed vendor)
Contains 5 bottles of each of the following, each significantly affects the plant's genetics in their own ways:

• Ammonia: Increases a plant's growth rate, at the cost of water needs.
  
• Diethylamine: Increases a plant's lifespan, at the cost of needing more nutrient.
  
• BoostaNut: Increases the yield of a plant at harvest, at the cost of its lifespan.
  
• Mutrient: Increases the chances of a spontaneous species mutation, at the cost of its grow time.
  
• HyGrow: Increases a plant's endurance trait, at the cost of its harvest yield.
  
• Gro-bust: Increases a plant's potency, at the cost of its endurance trait.
  
• Atrazine: Kills plants and poisons people. A hack item.
  
• Unstable Mutagen: Randomly mutates a plant's genetics - also works on people. A hack item.

Chem should be able to make most of these from a base recipe. Maybe having the mostly useless/unused "plant nutrients" recipe as a base from which to make more of any of these would be ideal. This would also make each nutrient solution useful as a nutrient solution itself, just with the added bonus of an additional trait modifier.

Plant Nutrients + Plasma = Hygrow? Plant Nutrients + Milk + Sugar = Gro-Bust? Something like that.