The kitchen waste that will help your peace lilies and orchids finally bloom

Not all houseplants bloom making peace lilies and orchids popular choices for people who want a floral touch inside their homes.

So it can be frustrating when these plants produce small blooms or worse, very few to no blooms at all.

There can be many reasons for this including not enough or too much light and under or overwatering, but an expert warns it's most likely what you're not doing.

Feel Grounded specialist, Jiliana Thomas, told the Express that the nutrients in the soil need to be maintained for the healthiest possible plant.

But instead of heading to the shops and purchasing indoor plant fertiliser Thomas suggested using something you likely already have access to – rice water.

Rice water is the cloudy liquid formed when you rinse rice in tap water.

Instead of pouring it down the sink you can save it for your plants as it contains nutrients that can help to promote flowering in peace lilies and orchids.

"[Rice water is] great for adding nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in addition to healthy bacteria and sugars. Different rice types have varying nutrient values, but any type would be beneficial for your plants. Mix it up with whatever you have on hand," Thomas explained.

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It's also a gentle and completely free way to fertilise your plants and all you need to do is pour the cloudy water from the bowl you're rinsing rice in into a container and pop in the fridge for up to a week.

Then when it's time to fertilise your plants dilute the rice water with tap water and pour onto the soil.

If you have rice water leftover and are wondering what to do with it it can also be used on plants growing outside.

Urban gardener Derek Vincent showed in a TikTok video how he uses rice water as a fertiliser on his courtyard garden.

"Whenever I make rice I always rinse it several times and save the rinsing water for my garden. It has trace amounts of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, but it's loaded with starch which can help feed the microbial load in your soil, which helps make soil nutrients available to your plants," he said.

To make the rice water fertiliser, Vincent simply poured the water out of the pot he was rinsing rice in, into a large jug. He then poured small amounts of the rice water onto several plants in his container garden.

In addition to fertilising the garden, some people also swear by rice water for making hair shiny by using it as a rinse after shampooing.

Others pour rice water into a spray bottle and spritz on their face to use as a toner before moisturiser, while some bathe in it to soften their skin.

Interestingly, a food science expert revealed that on the whole we don't actually need to be washing rice before cooking it, as studies have shown it doesn't make rice fluffier.

However, rinsing rice can provide peace of mind for anyone concerned about microplastics, dust or insects that may potentially be present amongst the grains.

But if washing rice is your preferred pre-cooking step, then think about keeping that precious water to feed your garden with.

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