Hydroponic farms always use water

[Craigjw]

I planted some Bristles in some Hydroponics, but have yet to hook up lights.  I have already plumbed them in.  They constantly use water, albeit at a slower rate than normal, despite no light source, is this correct behaviour?

[blash365]

Correct or intended? Maybe.

The way it has been for the past months? Yes.

[AndreyKl]

I'm pretty sure it is the same for other plants as well - for example mealwood uses dirt even if it is waiting to be harvested or can't grow due to temperature.

[BlueLance]

Think of it as the way the plant keeps itself from just outright dying!

[Sasza22]

Bristle on normal fram tiles and in planter boxes still gets water delivered by dupes iirc so it would be the same.

[martosss]

8 hours ago, BlueLance said:

Think of it as the way the plant keeps itself from just outright dying!

yea it doesn't die because it drinks all your water without producing anything, so that you can die first. That's what I call a smart plant! A "disable building" option for farm tiles that actually stops input flow to plants will definitely make some people here happy. That and "copy settings" for a wider range of buildings(farm tile, door are just 2 that I was amazed don't have it), so that we don't have to click disable/enable for each of our plants in all of our farms.

[Alex_D]

3 hours ago, martosss said:

yea it doesn't die because it drinks all your water without producing anything, so that you can die first. That's what I call a smart plant! A "disable building" option for farm tiles that actually stops input flow to plants will definitely make some people here happy. That and "copy settings" for a wider range of buildings(farm tile, door are just 2 that I was amazed don't have it), so that we don't have to click disable/enable for each of our plants in all of our farms.

Yes. In my latest base, when I was into BB for sustaining my dupes, I started to accumulate lots of surplus calories. So I put a valve that can shut off the water feeding all of the hydroponic tiles. A clock controlled the valve as well turns off/on the lights.

Later I dismounted the whole farm and move it off-base. BB seeds were later reused for Glossy Drecko farming.

[BlueLance]

10 hours ago, martosss said:

yea it doesn't die because it drinks all your water without producing anything, so that you can die first. That's what I call a smart plant! A "disable building" option for farm tiles that actually stops input flow to plants will definitely make some people here happy. That and "copy settings" for a wider range of buildings(farm tile, door are just 2 that I was amazed don't have it), so that we don't have to click disable/enable for each of our plants in all of our farms.

A liquid shut off valve exists!

[martosss]

@BlueLance never mind, I just saw that we actually have a disable building for the hydroponic farm(v275206)(I think in a previous version it wasn't  there, so nice - they added it!) and it doesn't use water anymore! However, a dupe needs to toggle it manually and there's no copy settings for that option - copy settings works only for copying the plant that is growing on the tile, not for disable/enable status.

[Craigjw]

My solution was to run out of water, although my dupes aren't too happy about that at the moment!

[martosss]

@Craigjw, Feed them Meallice, if possible. Then you'll run out of dirt, too, and things will become interesting . Careful with hatches - 140kg / cycle means they eat through it very quickly. I'd go for dreckos instead.

[Soulwind]

Or, you know,  don't plant the seeds until you are ready for them to grow. 

[martosss]

10 hours ago, Soulwind said:

Or, you know,  don't plant the seeds until you are ready for them to grow. 

The problem is when you plant them and there's a water shortage later. You need the water somewhere else with higher priority(e.g. cooling something) so you want to temporarily disable plants(especially if you already gathered a lot of food and don't care if you delay 50-100k calories worth of berries).