If your family has ever talked about planting a fruit tree, Arkansas gardeners will tell you the time is now. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension says plainly that "fall is a great time in Arkansas to plant trees and shrubs," and explains that trees planted in November, while dormant, have time to put down roots. Its tree-planting reference desk points to late October through November as a good window.
Arkansas already has a plum that knows how to spread. The Arkansas Native Plant Society describes the Chickasaw plum as found throughout the state, the earliest plum in Arkansas to bloom, and the state's most common thicket-forming plum. Thickets grow when one plant sends up new shoots that become new plants, which is a perfect doorway into a big science question.
Can a single bare twig, with no roots and no seed, grow into a whole new tree? This fall, your kids can test it themselves.
What your kids will learn
Rooting a cutting is one of the most satisfying experiments in plant biology because kids are trying something real growers do every year, and the result isn't guaranteed.
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
- Caring for a living thing takes water, light and patience
Grades 6–12
- Asexual propagation: 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 backyard twig test
You can try this with a dormant shrub or tree from your own yard. Let an adult handle the pruners.
- Pick a parent plant. After the leaves drop, choose a healthy shrub or tree in your yard. Look for this year's growth: smooth, pencil-thick stems.
- Take cuttings (adult job). Cut four pieces about 4 to 6 inches long. Make a straight cut at the top and a slanted cut at the bottom so nobody plants one upside down.
- Find the nodes. Have kids circle the little bumps where buds sit. Those nodes are where new roots and shoots are most likely to appear.
- Set up two groups. Push the bottom half of each cutting into damp potting mix. If you have rooting powder, dip two cuttings first and leave two plain. Label every pot.
- Make a mini greenhouse. Cover the pots loosely with a clear plastic bag and set them in bright, indirect light. Keep the mix damp, not soggy.
- Check weekly. Draw and measure each cutting. After about a month, give one a very gentle tug: resistance can mean roots are forming. Record which group did better and talk about why.
Not every cutting will root, and that's part of the lesson. Scientists learn just as much from what doesn't work.
Want a fruit tree to try? Our Plum Tree Cutting Rooting Science Kit sends a real plum tree cutting, about 4 inches long, with rooting powder, step-by-step rooting instructions, and curriculum and worksheets for your child's grade band (emailed after purchase). The kit is $19. For $29, the add-on version includes a second plum cutting, two 3-inch peat pots and two different growing mediums, so kids can run a true side-by-side test, plus instructions for planting the cutting once roots appear.
Have a sibling who wants a different tree? Our Plant Propagation Science Kit – Root an Apple Cutting includes a fresh apple cutting, a rooting hormone packet, a moisture wrap and grade-level curriculum. Run plum and apple side by side and see which one roots first.
Join the growing community
Every kit comes with an invitation to Aardvark's Seed Planting For Little Hands, our private Facebook group where kids and parents share progress photos, ask questions and troubleshoot together. Post your first root sighting and compare notes with young growers from the Ozarks to the Delta, and with families rooting cuttings in West Virginia and Arizona, too.
Plant something this November
Arkansas's tree-planting window is open right now. Start a cutting this week, and your kids will have a winter science project to check on until spring.
- Plum Tree Cutting Rooting Science Kit: $19.00 kit only, or $29.00 with 2 pots, an extra cutting and 2 growing mediums (Grades K–5 or 6–12)
- Plant Propagation Science Kit – Root an Apple Cutting: $29.99 (Grades K–5 or 6–12)
