Growing knowledge, rooted in community
Hydro Works supplies hydroponic and organic growing products, designs and builds growing systems in Cape Town, and develops HortiNode, a platform for monitoring and automating a grow.
Hydro Works started in Cape Town in 2020, out of a garage. The same values that guided that start still drive us: education, transparency and shared success.
We work with growers from all walks of life: backyard hobbyists and commercial operations, cooperatives and education-focused urban farms, across food security initiatives, retail gardening, agritech R&D, regenerative agriculture and cannabis cultivation.
South Africa faces real challenges around food security, youth unemployment and climate resilience. We see cultivation as a practical tool for all three, and our aim is to make it more accessible, with the guidance needed to use it well.
- We build our own tools
- HortiNode monitors and automates a grow, and every system we design is costed from its parts, so a quote changes with the size rather than guessing.
- We grew from a garage
- Started in Cape Town in 2020. Since then: our own retail line, a community food garden, and a turnkey commercial grow system in 2024.
- Sourcing is our speciality
- Trusted brands, local suppliers and direct from manufacturers, at more than one price point. New lines run in our own grows before we stock them: our LED lighting is being tested that way now.
Social entrepreneurship
Part of The Greenhouse
Our founder is part of The Greenhouse, a programme run by FURTHER for entrepreneurs building South Africa's green economy, with regenerative agriculture one of its focus areas.
It's a twelve-month, milestone-based journey: catalytic grant funding, coaching and capacity building, alongside a cohort of founders working on water, energy, agriculture and waste. For us it means sharper systems, stronger foundations, and more reach for the growers we work with.
What we do
- SupplyHydroponic and organic growing supplies, delivered across South Africa.Store
- BuildOur Wall-Mounted NFT System, and systems designed and costed from their parts.Solutions
- DevelopHortiNode, our platform for monitoring and automating a grow.HortiNode
- TeachFree guides written for South African conditions.Learning Centre
Our journey
- Learning from eldersInspired by generational knowledge in organic and traditional growing methods passed down in local communities.Before 2020
- Company establishedHydro Works was founded in Cape Town to offer accessible horticultural solutions to growers of all backgrounds.2020
- Retail line launchIntroduced our first line of retail cultivation products for hobbyists and home growers.2021
- Community garden initiativeLaunched our first community-based food garden project in partnership with local growers and nonprofits.2023
- First commercial design projectDelivered a turnkey commercial grow system built for long-term sustainability and local supply resilience.2024
- HortiNode in the fieldOur first HortiNode field install: a four-zone irrigation node running on schedule.2026