I haven't heard too positive of results from trying to clone peppers. as I understand it, it's pretty tough. that's not to say I've done extensive research on the topic though, so I'm no authority.

why not just trim the plant down to the main stem and the root ball down to the size of a fist? that won't take up too much room, and you'll have better results.

The weather here is getting ready to get iffy real soon. I think the low will be 39f Friday night. It shouldn't freeze, but I am sure it will put a hurt on the plants. I would like to leave them in the ground up till the freeze. I still have a few varieties that I am waiting to ripen.

Space is going to be real limited and its going to take some extreme pruning to save any number of them but its something I'm willing to try.

Pictured is a 7 pot brain strain yellow that had a branch tip break. It happened about 3 weeks ago and it is starting to show roots. It's not a textbook clone but it looks like it's going to make it. I'm thinking if I could get a few of these I would be good.

I have talked to some of the hydroponic people locally and they say peppers will root with a aero clone (mist bath) and if you check Fatalii.net he shows cloning in soil. Myself I plan on trying some clones and I let the wife know we were having house gusts for the winter. I have a few plants I just can't cut back who knows a big pepper plant full of peppers on Christmas would be the best tree ever.

Here's a cloning guide from someone that does it for a living (link below).

It's still too early to tell, but it looks like at least one of the half dozen clones I started a couple weeks ago using his methods are going to make it.

PS I didn't follow all his directions at first (heat mat in this heat?), but eventually did. Will expect to get better results in future attempts.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cloning Guide

This post was edited by mecdave on Wed, Sep 10, 14 at 5:48

It sounds like a good idea, to me.

Overwintering a whole plant , even when trimmed, takes a lot of space and if you try to re pot it into a smaller container, there is a risk of losing it too.
So I think that rooting a branch (cloning) sounds like a good alternative.

Thanks for sharing the idea. I will start a few soon.

One other advantage of overwintering clones, besides space, is you won't be bringing in aphids, fireants, or other bugs with your plants.

But then if you OW both plants and clones, your chances of survival double. I'm having a real tough time deciding if I want to chop up and bring my wonderful Hab shrub inside, or just clone it, or both. ;-)

At what stage of rooting, and in what medium are you intending to OW? If in dirt or your normal growing medium, then OW clones is no different from OW normal plants.

If the clones are in the rooting medium, than at some point you will have to move them into the growing medium.

Or are you talking about rooting cuttings and OW them instead of your producing plants?

Dennis

Mecdave - that's a good link and will come in handy.

Randy355 - a pepper Christmas tree would be cool, but my wife would not find it very amusing. Twilight Numex would be perfect.

DMForcier - Yep, rooting cuttings and overwintering them. I think I could keep it manageable that way. My best plant this year was a Maruga Scorpion that started as a house plant in October. It went into the ground in May. I had pods on it in June and ripe pods in July. It just seems like my season is a tad bit too short.

I dunno. The cuttings may not thrive, which means you needs several of each, which may take as much space as the plant.

It would be a good technique to develop if you could make it reliable.

Dennis

The nice thing about a clone is you know what you have before spending months on seed stock that might not be what you want or expect. As far as space for clones you can get inserts for a standard growing tray that holds 50 root riot inserts and seven inch domes that will keep them for the first two months then 6x6 pots till spring The hard part is light as the clones are not dormant they want to grow and need 16hrs of light or the time spent is wasted and the plant will look like a sick weed.
Right now I have set up for seed and clone starts as soon as the weather cools here (still 100 days) when I start I will post as it goes if it works the question is what to do with all the plants

Randy - That's some really good info. I will be checking out the Root Riot trays. I think I have the lights under control. I'm also considering ordering a bunch of 1 gallon trade pots. That should hold me off for a little growth.

What kind of medium are you going to use in your pots? Last year I used MG potting mix in my solo cups. It worked ok, but the fungus gnats were everywhere.

I started 16 Butch T cuttings yesterday just for fun. Cool if they take. Nothing lost if they don't.

Please do post your results.

I dunno. The cuttings may not thrive, which means you needs several of each, which may take as much space as the plant.

It would be a good technique to develop if you could make it reliable.
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Dennis ,
Once the cutting has developed roots, it becomes a plant.
There are 2 ways to root (1) In water (2) In solid medium, like 5-1-1 mix. I do it in water (Just personal preference). Once I see roots, I pot it. I have done a lot of this with vegetable and several times with tomatoes. Of course, you might lose some in the rooting process but once they grow roots you are done.

When you are rooting in water, do you add rooting hormone? If so, how much?

I was wondering, has anyone tried air layering them? I haven't tried it on peppers, but we did do it with some houseplants before.

It's been 20 days since I trimmed some branches off a tabasco plant in an attempt to clone them, and all six survived!

The first photo is right after I cut them off and stuck them in stonewool. After taking that photo I cut off all the pods, blossoms, and large leaves.

This photo is from today right after potting them up.

I will definitely be doing the same with a few other plants while the growing season is still good. They really started to come alive once setting them outdoors in partial shade last week. Three inches of rain didn't hurt much either. ;)

This post was edited by mecdave on Sat, Sep 20, 14 at 12:20