The root cap in plants is a multi-layered tissue responsible for gravity-sensing, metabolite secretion and protecting the meristem. Root cap cells are continuously turned over via cell division in the inner layers and coordinated detachment and programmed cell death of the outermost layer. While the ultrastructure of the root cap has been well described, the spatiotemporal dynamics of root cap cell maturation and detachment are less well studied. Now, Tatsuaki Goh, Keiji Nakajima and colleagues use motion-tracking timelapse imaging of Arabidopsis to track cell and organelle dynamics at high resolution. They find that root cap cells undergo a highly organised rearrangement of organelles. As cells transition from a gravity-sensing fate to a secretory fate, amyloplasts (gravity-sensing organelles) relocate to the centre of the cell and eventually shrink, whereas vacuoles increase in size before coalescing into a single large vacuole prior to detachment. The authors also detect spatiotemporally regulated autophagosome formation in outermost cells. In the absence of ATG5, a protein necessary for autophagosome formation, the outermost root cap cells are not fully vacuolated and detach individually rather than as a sheet. Together, these data indicate a role for autophagy in organelle rearrangement and coordinated cell separation during root cap development.