The Sinterra Hydrostarter reduces waste and conserves resources in hydroponic plant cultivation and vertical farming.

With its newly developed Sinterra Hydrostarter, Tilt Industries GmbH, a startup from Germany, enables completely substrate-free plant cultivation. The seeds are supplied with water and nutrients by capillary force. The absence of substrates such as peat or rock wool conserves resources and prevents waste. The Hydrostarter holds one plant at a time and allows cultivation from seed to harvest, as well as use of the entire plant. In addition, the device is reusable as well as recyclable. Hydroponics and vertical farming thus become truly waste-less and circular. The product is aimed at commercial farms and private gardeners alike.

MOTIVATION
Aquaponics and hydroponics are alternative, sustainable concepts for food production with the basic idea of a circular economy. The efficiency and resource savings are already impressive. However, substrates are still used for growing plants from seeds, some of which involve enormous negative environmental impacts (e.g. peat, rock wool). For this reason, we have developed the Hydrostarter, a device that makes it possible to grow bare- root seedlings without detours in almost all hydroponic cultivation systems.
COMPANY
Tilt Industries is a young product development company based in Kevelaer, Germany, founded five years ago by two students. We develop innovative products to solve existing problems as simply and efficiently as possible. In doing so, we strive to keep the value chain socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable.
In 2022, we created the Sinterra brand to implement our Zero Waste Hydroponics concept. The Hydrostarter is the first planting system that uses no substrate at all and that enables one to to produce bare-root plants from seeds without creating waste. We are currently looking for partners to make the Sinterra Hydrostarter commercially available.