> I was thinking, people say that the longer peppers live the better producers they become

I wish that were true (in my experience). Will be interesting to see what others say on this subject. This last fall I let about 50 2, 3, 4, and 5 year old plants die because was not getting worthwhile production and am now going to try a two year rotation system.

And having cloned a few plants myself, can also say have not had as much success as you have. My clones are noticeably smaller in size and some do have modest production the first year. The following year has not been as good as a 2nd year plant from seed. It should be noted that the vast majority of my clones (and from seed plants) were C. pubescens.

There is someone that frequents this forum that I consider to be an expert (as you appear to be too) on cloning & maybe will reply.

My data on pubescens clones is very small, so I will not speak to them.

I reproduce 80% by cloning because cloned plants dwarf and I have a small greenhouse. Dwarfed cloned plants (annuum, frutescens, chinenses, baccatum) all set lots of small fruit on very densly-foliated plants.

Some plants I have grown for 5-10 years produce more fruit the older they get....I don't know if this applies to all chiles.....it does to mine.

I grow in hydro.

how do you clone?

it is just a fancy way of saying we snip a branch and get it to sprout roots either in a cup of water or with a rooting hormone.

there is more to it than that, but thats the basic gist of it.

sndk, whats the more to it part ;-)

As simple as it sounds I have had maybe a 10% success rate with rooting cuttings of chilis. Let's have some words of wisdom here.

if you really want to get into the nitty gritty people write books on this, i certainly can't do it justice in a post.

there are entire websites dedicated to cloning, lemme go search quick and i'll post some good links instead of trying to rewrite the wheel :)

overview:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/cloning1.htm

ironically, the best resources i am finding for cloning peppers were derived from illegal plants. the method is the same, but do your favor and stick to peppers. anyhow i'm including the link because when i googled it, this was *the* best resource i saw during my search. these guys answer every conceivable question.. which makes sense because they have no other resources, if they open their mouth they go to the bighouse for a few years. the level of information here is astounding, i hesitated to use this site due to it's illicit nature, but the technique and thoroughness blows anyone, including the .edu resources out of the water. so without further adieu or disclaimer, this is how to clone pot lol.

http://www.overgrow.com/growfaq/t2

I have keep the same peper plants for 4 years no clones. these plant would go into hybornation during the winter. Every year they would start producing leaves from the node point. The branches turned woody. It looked more like a small tree. Every node would produce 2 to 3 fruits. I would get about twenty pepers per plant each year.

I made my own cloning unit which turned out to be 90% effective. I puchased a small clear container with a lid on it from the local dollar store. Drilled 4 1 inch holes in the lid. Drilled a 1/4 inch hole near the top. I placed a air hose in the 1/4 inch hole then i put a small aireator at the end. I placed 4 1 inch rockwools in the holes. I place the cuttins in the center of the rock wool. Filled the container with water add root grower to the water. Turn on a cheap fish tank pump. In a week I got for clones with alot of roots. Just thought I would let you know how this worked. the whole unit cost me 5 dollars.

And air-layering works quite well too. You can add a rooting hormone if you wish, but works without. I like using willow (salix) water too. The Saran Wrap is loose enough to allow air in and still retard evaporation. I add water to the pellet with a baster.

Air Layering

Not sure why the tape is in that album. I use it for grafts, repairing broken branches etc.

jt

One thing I have yet to see mentioned here is keep it CLEAN.

You will see vastly improved results if you keep the instruments and area in which cloning procedures take place as close to sterile as possible.
Wear latex (or similar)gloves, use a new blade for each cutting(they're cheap folks), keep the new babies warm and moist(a humidity dome is almost essential for the first few days), and it is well established that plain flourescent lights are more beneficial for rooting clones than other light sources.

Whenever possible make lots of cuttings, it will only improve the #'s of healthy survivors and then you can weed out the week looking clones.

Cloning is fun, and when you really get the hang of it, you can clone just about any plant!

I am going to second the CLEAN for cloning.

My success rate was lousy until I started zterilizing my tools by soaking in H2O2 before use. Also wash your hands.....latex gloves will work too.

I've had great luck with 9oz cups with drainage holes cut in the bottoms filled with Home Depot vermiculite in a humidity dome; the humidity dome is necessary in the dry phoenix climate. The dome is inside under lights at about 80 degrees F. Cleanliness is overrated if you use H2O2 in the watering solution and spray occasionally with a solution containing a small amount of H2O2. I think the pepper clones like the small amount of oxygen released from the mild solution. Cloning compounds don't seem to help much, but the alge extract does. When the clones are planted in containers outside, they tend to grow normally rather than yeilding compact plants. They seem to bloom earlier.

grew Thai pepper plants from seed this year. I topped three of these plants at about five to six weeks after germination, placed the cuttings in coco coir, and have rooted one stem cutting (without rooting hormone) and hope to root the other two. next year, I'll compare not only the sizes of the clones to their parent plants but their pepper production as well. the spreadsheet software's gonna get a workout, i swear.

"so I was wondering if it was just that or if it was the cumulative age of the plant carried over from all its incarnations."

Perhaps it is that you are gaining experience.

Peppers in their native places are short-lived perennials and shrubs - 3-5 years, seldom more.

I have seen tepins in Méjico that were at least 20 years old. The campesino who owns is remembers it from when he was a child. Tepin grows under a mesquite nurse tree. I grew a purira for 9 years.