Arizona backyards are about to get a lot more orange. Citrus ripens through the winter in the low desert, and the community is already gearing up: St. Mary's Food Bank has opened registration (October 1 through November 30, 2026) for West Valley homeowners who want volunteer crews to pick their extra fruit, with gleaning running January 11 through March 31, 2027. Citrus drop-off donations open January 11.
Earlier this month, the City of Chandler's Fall Seed Swap invited neighbors to share seeds, seed starts and plant cuttings, with Master Gardeners on hand to talk desert gardening. Trading cuttings is an old gardener's trick, and it's also great science. A cutting is a piece of a plant that can grow into a whole new plant that's a genetic copy of its parent.
So while the oranges ripen, here's a question to put to your kids: could a 4-inch branch grow into an orange tree?
What Your Kids Will Learn
Grades K–5
- Some plants can grow from a piece of another plant, not only from seeds
- The jobs of stems, leaves and roots
- How to observe, measure and draw a plant's changes over time
- How to care for a living thing with water, light and patience
Grades 6–12
- Asexual propagation, and why a cutting grows into a genetic copy of its parent tree
- How rooting hormones (auxins) help a stem form new roots
- Planning a fair test and controlling variables
- Recording observations and data in a science journal
This Week's Activity: The Node Detective Rooting Test
Practice the big idea with an easy plant from your kitchen or windowsill. Basil or mint from the grocery store works well, and so do common houseplants like pothos.
- Find the nodes. Look along a stem for the bumps where leaves attach. Those are nodes, and they're where new roots usually start. Have kids count the nodes on one stem.
- Take four cuttings. An adult uses clean scissors to cut four pieces about 4 inches long. Cut two just below a node and two in the middle of a stretch between nodes.
- Strip the bottom. Pull the leaves off the bottom half of each cutting so no leaves sit underwater.
- Set up the fair test. Put each cutting in its own small jar of water and label them "node" or "no node." Keep everything else the same: same water, same jars, same spot.
- Mind the Arizona sun. Keep the jars indoors in bright light but out of direct afternoon sun, which can overheat the water. Our dry air pulls moisture from leaves quickly, so check the water level every day and change it every two or three days.
- Watch and measure. Check daily. Record the day the first root appears on each cutting and measure root length with a ruler. Draw what you see.
- Draw a conclusion. After two weeks, compare. Which cuttings grew roots first? What does that tell you about nodes?
Soft herb stems often root in water within a week or two. Woody fruit-tree stems are a bigger challenge, and that's what makes the next step exciting. Our Orange Tree Cutting Rooting Science Kit includes a real orange tree cutting (about 4 inches long), rooting powder, step-by-step rooting instructions, and curriculum and worksheets for your child's grade band, emailed after purchase. Rooting a woody cutting takes patience, which makes careful observation and record-keeping part of the lesson.
For a true side-by-side experiment, choose the add-on version. It adds a second orange tree cutting, two 3-inch peat moss pots, two different types of soil so kids can compare how each cutting does, and instructions for planting the cutting once roots appear.
Families in Flagstaff, Prescott and other high-country towns may also like the Plant Propagation Science Kit – Root an Apple Cutting, which uses fresh apple scion wood and rooting hormone to explore the same science. Results vary with conditions, and investigating why is part of the lesson.
Join the Growing Community
Every kit comes with an invitation to our Facebook group, Aardvark's Seed Planting For Little Hands, where kids and parents can get support with anything they need. Post your node-versus-no-node jars, cheer on the first root, and see what young growers in Arizona, Arkansas and West Virginia are working on this season.
Grow Your Own Arizona Orange Tree
- Orange Tree Cutting Rooting Science Kit – Grow an Orange Tree from a Cutting, with Curriculum & Worksheets: $19.00 (kit only) or $29.00 with the add-on of 2 pots, an extra cutting and 2 growing mediums
- Plant Propagation Science Kit – Root an Apple Cutting, with Curriculum & Worksheets: $29.99
