My Mom Calls Leftover Rice Water 'Liquid Gold'—You'll Never Guess Why

There are many ways to prepare and cook white rice, yet one essential step remains consistent: washing it. Rinsing rice is an imperative step to get rid of dust, debris, and even small insects left from the rice hulling process. However, rather than simply discarding the water used to wash your rice, you should really be saving it to water your plants. 

I don’t know how long we’ve been doing it, but for as long as I can remember my family has maintained luscious indoor and outdoor plants all thanks to watering them with preserved water that was used to rinse rice, according to my mom. This simple trick is such a staple to my family that we liken the leftover rice water to liquid gold for its beneficial vitamins and minerals that it offers both our house and outdoor plants. 

Why Do You Need to Wash Rice?

You should always be rinsing your rice before preparing it to not only wash away unwanted debris, dirt, and pesticides, but it also removes excess starch on white rice that gives it a fluffier texture when cooking. It’s best practice to let rice soak in a bowl of water and, with your fingers or spoon, swirl the rice in the water. You’ll find that the water gets cloudy fast, and when it does, pour out the water (into another bowl to reserve to water your plants) and do the process two or three more times until your rice water doesn’t get completely opaque and runs a bit clearer. You don’t need to do it until the water runs completely clear, just relatively clear. 

Is Rice Water Good for Plants?

Yes, a thousand times yes. Starchy rinsed water contains plenty of minerals and nutrients that are beneficial to a variety of plants — house and indoor alike:

• Starch: Rice water contains plenty of starch from the rice itself, which plants use to store energy for growth. 
• Nutrients: Rinsing rice makes a nutritionally fortified rice water that contains nutrients that are integral for plant growth which include nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium as well as other beneficial nutrients like iron, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and a variety of B vitamins.  

What Plants Benefit From Rice Water?

The majority of indoor and outdoor plants benefit from the nutrients and minerals from rice water, including your edible plants in your fruit and vegetable garden beds. We use it to add some extra nutrients to indoor plants like succulents and ferns, and outdoor edible plants such as tomatoes, peppers, and okra. 

The only plants to be cautious of watering with rice water are plants that are housed in an aquaponics system as it may disrupt or block necessary functions. 

How Often Should You Water Plants With Rice Water?

Think of rice water as a high-quality at-home fertilizer. And like fertilizer, it’s best in moderation because of the potential for starch and mineral buildup. Despite it being an organic and gentle equivalent to a fertilizer, it’s best to water your plants with rice water only once a month or so.