The Forgotten Kitchen Liquid That Helps Pothos Plants Thrive

The easy-care pothos plant (Epipremmum aureum) is go-to greenery in many homes thanks to its lovely vines and hardiness, even under the palest of green thumbs. With its ivy-like leaves flowing down your bookcase or end table, the pothos can bring any space to life and generally needs only the most basic level of care. But if your reliable pothos has been looking a little bedraggled lately, you might want to give it a boost the next time you make a stir-fry.

Rice water, the milky liquid left behind after you wash pre-cooked rice, has long been touted by home gardeners as a useful natural fertilizer for houseplants, including pothos. YouTuber Nora's Gardening Journey swears by this method, saying that after applications, she saw "triple the growth, deeper green leaves and new vines popping up everywhere."

Science backs this up. A 2023 study published in the Journal of Food Science and Technology outlined multiple uses for rice water, which — in addition to being used as traditional medicine for everything from backaches to skin rashes — has been shown to increase soil fertility and benefit plant growth. The leftover liquid from washing brown or white rice contains essential nutrients that you'd also find in any synthetic store-bought plant fertilizer. These include nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as other minerals, vitamins, sugar, and starch. Lots of plants love rice water, including orchids and many garden veggies. Pothos, too, can benefit from the nutrient boost in your leftover rice liquid — as long as you don't overdo it.

To prepare the rice water for your pothos (or for any other houseplants that look like they need a little boost), the easiest method is to stir your uncooked rice around in strainer set in a bowl of tepid water and let it soak for a couple of minutes. Once you remove your rice, all that remaining liquid is ready to be added directly into your pothos plant soil. You can also create rice water by boiling your rice in a bit more water than you normally would and saving the extra. Boiling concentrates the nutrients, so gardeners recommend diluting boiled rice water to avoid fertilizer burn. You can also let the rice water ferment for a few days in a jar and then add it to your plants for better nutrient absorption. You can even spray it on foliage.

Like most unusual houseplant hacks, applying rice water may have benefits, but it isn't magic and should be applied with care. Pothos plants don't like over-watering, so adding rice water on top of your normal watering routine might lead to root rot, mold, or wilted leaves just because of that extra moisture. Remember that any harmful fungus in your soil or pests on your pothos also love to eat the carbs in rice water, so you might inadvertently feed existing problems. Since pothos generally only need fertilizing about every other month during their summer growing season, using rice water during this time will give your plant a helpful boost without going overboard.