Gas Grass

Gas Grass is a farmable plant used to feed a Gassy Moo and turn Liquid Chlorine into Natural Gas. It can be grown in a Planter Box, Farm Tile, or Hydroponic Farm, with Hydroponic Farm being the preferred option because it accepts irrigation with 500 g of Liquid Chlorine per cycle. A domesticated Gas Grass matures in 4 cycles, while a wild plant takes 16 cycles to grow.

Gas Grass has no self-produced seed source in the base game; seeds are obtained through space missions to the Organic Mass with a Biological Cargo Bay. In Spaced Out, it can generate seeds, but only on the Gassy moonlet.

To grow, Gas Grass requires a temperature range of -273.2 °C to 75 °C, an air pressure of up to 10 kg, and 10,000 Lux of light. It must be planted in the Space Biome or under a Sun Lamp. Because of this high light requirement, it is commonly paired with space sunlight, Sun Lamps, shine bugs, or other strong lighting setups. Some gases absorb light, which can make meeting the illumination threshold harder; Natural Gas is especially poor for this, while Oxygen absorbs no light. For that reason, filling the growing area with Oxygen can help keep the light level high when using space-based lighting.

The main use of Gas Grass is as part of a Gassy Moo farm. Each cycle of growth produces 1 kg of harvested Gas Grass, and a Gassy Moo converts that consumed mass into Natural Gas at 500% of the input mass. In practice, this means 1 kg of Liquid Chlorine becomes 10 kg of Natural Gas, making the farm a highly efficient Natural Gas source compared with a Natural Gas Geyser. About 11 Gas Grass plants are needed to keep a Natural Gas Generator running continuously.

• Gas Grass is most efficient when fully automated around a steady Liquid Chlorine supply.
• The setup requires significant cooling, since the chlorine must be brought down to farmable temperatures.
• The light cost can be substantial; Sun Lamps and similar artificial lighting can work, but they reduce net power efficiency.
• In many colonies, the plant is best used only when the colony already has a stable source of Liquid Chlorine and a plan for strong lighting.