Orchids will grow ‘stronger’ and rebloom when watered with cheap kitchen staple monthly
It can be disheartening if an orchid's flowers begin to fall off, but there is a simple way to get the plant to rebloom again using a natural cooking ingredient you would have otherwise poured down the drain.
Orchids are known for their stunning blooms which last a long time, and you can get them to flower a second time in the year if you feed them the right fertiliser.
The lifespan of orchid flowers is typically 12 weeks and will begin to fall off at the end of their growing season, but you can get them to rebloom by feeding them rice water.
Amanda Matthews, a houseplant expert and founder of Orchideria, has shared that the starchy water left after cooking rice helps give orchids a nutrient boost.
She said: “Using rice water as an orchid fertiliser is beneficial to your orchid because the essential nutrients contained in the rice grain (like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) promote healthy orchid leaves and stronger and larger orchid roots.”
Rice water will help orchids produce bigger blooms that will last longer as the nutrients will help the plant grow and so it can reserve more energy to produce flowers.
As summer ends it is also typical for orchids to become stressed due to the sudden environmental changes, but feeding them the proper nutrients will help reduce plant stress so it can focus on flowering.
How to use rice water to fertilise orchids
All you need to do is rinse rice thoroughly in a bowl before you begin cooking or collect the boiled water after you are done cooking.
Amandra said: “One rice water recipe is to soak the rice in water, as you do to rinse the rice grains off before you cook it.
“The second way is to use twice the amount of water that you would use, boil the water with rice for a few minutes, then strain off the top portion of water.”
Do not put salt or any other seasoning in the rice and also make sure the water has cooled down before feeding it to a plant.
Collect the rice water and pour it over the soil of an orchid plant, making sure not to get any on the plant foliage.
The best way to use rice water is once a month during the time you would typically water your orchid.
Make sure not to overwater the orchid or feed it too much rice water, as too much will overfertilise the plant and cause it to be vulnerable to diseases such as root rot.
Amanda said: “Too much rice water can make the orchid roots rot and proliferate any abnormal levels of bacteria and fungus in the potting media if you water too much. Bacteria is one of the main problems orchid growers face and the cause is usually over-watering.”
