Probably Stolen Hydroponics Guide: How to Start Growing Fast
Start hydroponics in Probably Stolen as a Hydroponic Farmer: unlock water taps, run Fillerweed and Nutrifruit, use Hydroreed to clean water, then grow Kotton without killing your first crops.
Probably Stolen (Probably Stolen - Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim) is Questing Goose Studio and tinyBuild's shopkeeper sim, out on Steam since October 28, 2026. Hydroponics is a full job in the game: you run grow systems, manage water and minerals, and sell the harvest from your shop.
This is a beginner path for getting those systems running and moving from easy starter plants into a real money crop, without waiting on later specializations.
A complete early hydroponics start is below:
Start as a Hydroponic Farmer
If you can choose a specialization at the start, pick Hydroponic Farmer. That path begins with two systems already in the shop: an Old unit (faster growth) and a Decrepit unit (slower, cheaper on power). Treat the Old system as your grower and the Decrepit system as your cleaner.
You have a few perk points on day one. A strong opening is Working Pipes (it unlocks the Gutter Flow Tap and the Rust Water Tap immediately) and Savings (extra credits toward the first rent payment). Working Pipes costs two points; Savings costs one.
What every system needs
Every productive cycle needs four things:
- A hydroponic unit with a water-container slot
- Water that is clean enough for the plant you are growing
- Hydroponic Nutrient Tablets to bring minerals into the seed's target range
- A seed, plus a charged energy cell so the unit does not go dark mid-grow
If power runs out, growth stops. Buy energy cells before a unit is empty. A quality strip only tells you water quality, not whether the water is actually safe for a sensitive plant. An Aqua Scanner is worth buying when you can afford it, because it shows the details a strip hides. A plant analyzer can show growth, but you do not need one if you keep water, minerals, and power in range.
First crops: Fillerweed and Nutrifruit
Fillerweed is the starter plant. It does not care about dirty tap water, it finishes quickly, and it returns a seed. Plant it in the Old (faster) system. Sell the harvest in your display case to food buyers, and keep the seeds.
Nutrifruit is the easy fruit crop. Put it in the Decrepit system. The starter bottle already has the mineral levels that crop wants, so you can get a first fruit harvest while Fillerweed is paying the bills.
Do not jump to a sensitive cash crop until you can make clean water on purpose.
Hydroreed, then Kotton
When the retired farmer visits, buy Hydroreed seeds, Kotton seeds, and nutrient tablets. Skip his extra modules if you already have systems running. If you later buy a third hydroponic unit from him, set it up immediately: energy cell, water bottle, and a Hydroreed seed. Forgetting to power a new unit is a common stall.
Hydroreed is not a shop plant. You grow it so it can purify water. Plant it in a cleaner system (the Decrepit unit, then a second cleaner once you have one) and let it work overnight. You can swap the bottle out mid-cycle and put a fresh bottle in; the reed will start cleaning the new one. Keep using Hydroreed on the next bottle so Kotton never waits on water.
Ordinary purifier water can still carry chemical contaminants that look fine on a basic quality reading. That is why Hydroreed matters before you plant Kotton.
Once a bottle is actually clean, add nutrient tablets until the minerals sit in the crop's target range, move that bottle into the Old (faster) system, and plant Kotton. Kotton is the early money crop: keep the seeds and put the fiber in the display case. After the first harvest, the loop is simple: Hydroreed cleans the next bottle, you set the minerals, you plant more Kotton in the grower, and you expand only when clean water and power are already stable.
During a Nutrifruit shortage, leftover Fillerweed seeds can still sell.
Common mistakes
- Planting Kotton in dirty water, or in water that only looks "high quality" after a normal purifier
- Letting a system run out of power in the middle of a cycle
- Skipping nutrient tablets, or dumping in so many that you overshoot the mineral range
- Buying new modules before you have Hydroreed, clean bottles, and a plan for power
- Leaving a newly bought hydroponic unit unpowered on the floor
Beginner checklist
- Start as Hydroponic Farmer; take Working Pipes and Savings
- Plant Fillerweed in the Old system; plant Nutrifruit in the Decrepit system
- Sell Fillerweed from the display case; keep the seeds
- Buy Hydroreed seeds, Kotton seeds, and nutrient tablets from the retired farmer
- Use Hydroreed in a cleaner system and swap bottles as they finish
- Add tablets, then plant Kotton in the faster grower
- Keep energy cells stocked before a unit goes dark
- After the first Kotton harvest, repeat the clean-water loop before you expand