For the Pop Boom, you need at least 2 surplus nutrient points for the population to increase.
Adding to b_c's post: In SMAC (not Alien Crossfire), you may only pop boom with:
-Demo
-Planned
-Childrens Creeche
-Eudaimonia
(you need to have 3 out of those 4)
since there is a bug that causes the Growth bonus from the GA not to be added to the rest of the bonuses.
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