I'm not sure I did the right thing to my hyacinth plant. It's growing in a pot with dirt brought from Whole Foods. I poured cool water that I'd used for rinsing rice on it, and the next day the flower was partially dead. I don't know if the flower is going through its cycle, or if the rice water is killing it.
Can the water from rinsing the rice harm the hyacinth? Is there anything I can do to help it recover?
I'm not sure about hyacinths specifically, but I found some good sources indicating that rice water is actually beneficial for plants; as the starch in the water encourages healthy bacteria, and the enzymes found naturally in the water act like fertilizer.
From Thrifty Fun:
Just like potato water, rice water also contains valuable nutrients for houseplants. Using it is also a wonderful way to conserve water and a great way to take some of the worry out of over-fertilizing. The starches from leftover rice water will help encourage beneficial soil bacteria, while the vitamins and minerals will add small amounts of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) to the soil.
For correlation, Answers.com and ehow present the same information.
Note that there are two very important things to avoid: hot water and salted water.
Again, from Thrifty Fun:
One thing to keep in mind when using water from cooking on your houseplants is to make sure the water has cooled to room temperature before you use it. It's also best to avoid using water that you have added salt to. Just about any clear or light-colored water that is left over after cooking is probably okay to use as long as it doesn't contain salts. This includes using water from cooking hard-boiled eggs, pasta and vegetables. If you have a freshwater fish aquarium, save some water for your houseplants every time you clean it.
You mentioned that you used cool water, so that shouldn't be an issue. If the water was salted, that's not necessarily why it appears unhealthy, but could be a contributing factor.
We look forward to seeing the pictures in order to help diagnose the problem. Hopefully it's just a natural part of flower production, and your plant will turn out to be fine!
Also be aware, depending on what time of the year and where you live when you watered these flowers, could depend on if you did damage to it, and what else was happening... If you watered the flowers at the start of the night in the dead middle of winter in Melbourne, it would be about 2 degree's outside and you could just shy of kill it by causing it to be far too cold, as well as if it was raining a lot previously to you adding this water, it could be the roots are just too damp.
