Ernie the Lemon Tree

I've been trying to find ways to incorporate more science into Isaac's school lessons. He's very tactile and likes DOING what he's learning. So I figure one of the best ways to learn about the world is to have a hands on approach. I saw a couple different pins on Pinterest about growing your own lemon tree, so after doing some of my own research, I made up my own way of doing it... Now, as you may know, I have a bit of a brown thumb so this little science experiment may be a stretch for us, but why not give it a try?

I want Isaac to learn from the ground up (pun sort of intended). So, I chopped open a lemon and we chose two seeds (I figure we might as well try to start two trees and if only one grows, there you go... if both grow, I'll buy a second pot and we'll have two trees. Darn). 

Step 1: Cut your lemon, choose a seed (or 2) and suck on the seed(s) until the pulp and lemon flavor is gone. He got one, I got one. Keep it in your mouth until you're ready to plant it - you don't want it to dry out. Isaac felt pretty awesome doing this but you have to make sure your preschooler won't swallow it.

Step 2: I had Isaac put rocks in the bottom of a pot to help the water drain to the bottom since I didn't have a pot that drains itself. We used a 12" pot, but I'll need to replant the tree soon after it sprouts. Apparently they like a wide pot rather than a deep pot.

Step 3: He dumped in the soil about 3/4 of the way full.

Step 4: I hollowed out the lemon so I had two little "cups" then I filled them with soil and put one seed in each cup. This way, as the seed grows, the peel will compost itself and add nutrients to the soil... at least that's my reasoning.

Step 5: Place the soil/seed filled cup(s) on top of the dirt and press down, then cover the rest of the way with soil so there's about 1/2" of soil on top of the seed(s).

Step 6: Water generously but gently. 

Step 7: I put plastic wrap over the pot and secured it with a giant rubber band then had Isaac poke a few holes in the plastic with a fork so that it could breathe... sort of a make-shift green house.

Step 8: Put it some place sunny and warm(ish). I get full sun in my front window so I'm going to try to keep it there in the afternoons at least. Ava has posed a bit of a problem already with poking her own holes in the plastic wrap. This placement might have to be changed.

Step 9: Name the tree - Isaac named it Ernie. Ernie the Lemon Tree. Awesome.

It should take about 2 weeks for the seeds to sprout. If they don't sprout, I'll go get an organic Meyer lemon which have gotten good reviews on using their seeds to grow your own tree. My lemon was just whatever Trader Joe's had... we'll see!

So, what's the long term plan for this tree? I want Isaac to keep an Ernie Journal and once a week, we'll make observations about what he sees, how it's changed and he'll try to draw what he sees. We're gonna kill a few birds with this one Ernie Tree "stone." Science, logic/reasoning, writing, art... who knows what else I can incorporate. Anyway, here's hoping it works!!!