Honestly it probably won't t make it in the soil like that. It will dry out . I have had pretty good luck with getting them to root just by sticking them in a glass of water and sticking them in a shady spot. This is the least efficient way of doing it ,but it works fine in the summer

When doing any kind of cuttings, I like to cut the stem at 45 degree angle, then take a sharp razor knife and gently scrape the outer layer off up about 1". Pre-wet the medium, and make a hole with a sharp pencil deep enough to where you want to plant it. Hold the hormone dipped cutting and firm the soil around it. That'll keep the hormone from being scraped off. I don't do the water thing as water roots are different than soil roots, I've been told...

here's my secret: rockwool.
imo, the best way is in rockwool, which can be used for either hydroponic or simply putting it in soil after it's rooted in the rockwool.

the best part about rockwool and using it for cuttings is that it can hold tons of water, which makes good contact with the stem to get it rooted. the rockwool also "holds" air/oxygen for the roots.. then there is the no-fuss-no-mess part of rockwool which i also like. it is also cheap AND natural (a "sponge" made from rocks)..

i don't even use any rooting hormone, i just take a very small cutting (about 3-4 inches tall) and poke it into the rockwool, removing most of the foliage, but leaving a few. i put it over a dome and in a bright shaded area and close to a month later, roots start coming out the rockwool cube to be transplanted in whatever (hydroponic, soil, soiless, etc)..

only downside about cloning peppers is they take extremely long to root compared to other plants (like tomatoes, which root in a matter of 3-5 days). what i'd like to know if using a rooting hormone speeds up the rooting process dramatically? again, without using any hormone, i typically see roots appear out of the stem in about 3 weeks.

Stevie,

I do a lot of bouganvilla, hibiscus, roses, and karipinsia and find that rooting hormone speeds up rooting. Haven't tried it on peppers yet.

Thank you guys for all of the advice! Right now, it looks pretty whomped so I'm not sure it will make it. But, it isn't important if it cracks. Next time, I think I'll try the rockwool!

I have rooted cuttings in both water and soil. If you use soil, you need to keep it very damp, at least at first until you know it has developed roots. I have also used rooting hormone. I can't say that I have had any better luck with it than without. But I typically use it since it can't hurt.
I would suggest two things that I didn't notice covered above. First, trim the leaves back to just a couple and if they are big leaves, cut them in half. The plant will lose a lot of moisture out of those leaves. Second, you should keep it covered so that it keeps a high humidity level around the plant. Also, don't put it in direct sunlight until it gets established.

Has anyone tried using a cloner? I have 24 reaper clones going. Been one week. I used clonex and I have a 240 watt veg LED light on for 16 hours a day. I have rooted tomatoes and Japanese Maples which I heard is almost impossible. Never tried peppers but I am thinking 30 days minimum.

Got 24 going if half make good roots I will be tickled. I took 45 angle an 1/8 inch below a node.

Well, to update this thread, I didn't use a cloned and it was going well until it was +110 for a week and my cutting just couldn't take it.

OK, so what is a "Cloner"?

marianne: Try doing your cuttings indoors until you know they have put out roots.

Cloner

Basically water is misted continusly on stem with water from a spray nozzle 24 hours a day. I use the ex-cloner but there are others turboclone, octycloner. You tube it. You get big white roots and then I go to a ocean Forrest or roots organic with extra perlite and some manure. Works great but I have heard peppers aren't the best to clone. I have read pod size decreases on first clones and they get smaller with each new generation of clones you create. I am doing it because out of the 10 seeds I ordered only one grew true reapers. The others reverted back and look more like ghost or the pakastani naga viper.

Ahhh. OK, are you putting the cuttings in water or soil? Never mind, I see that the water is misted on the Stem itself.

@tomjones

i think you were the person that posted about a damaged plant? if you follow my advice about putting a humidity dome, the plants will be fine. in the future i would ditch the cloner and stick them in rockwool with some rooting hormone, put them in a clear bag and call it a day. don't get me wrong, the cloner is nice, but not really good for peppers because they need to be in a really humid environment.

also, as i mentioned before (i'll post it here for others), they do not need light. it serves no use to the cutting, it has no roots. you are probably actually slowing them down blasting them with 16hrs of light because they have very little energy without roots to absorb water and the light all is doing is causing them to work harder to root from what little water they manage to get up the stems to the leaves. indirect light is all they need..

this year, i've rooted 3-4 different type of peppers. from hots to sweet peppers, including hybrids and all are growing bushier and flowering like crazy, much earlier than the plant they came from, so where ever you read about peppers producing less pods, it's BS.. if anything growing peppers from cuttings can give you a great plant that grows insanely fast.

check out this Tabasco plant i started from cutting on 2nd week of August (iirc around August 13)

...now on 9/9 after it rooted.

it's bushier and already has blossoms compared to the plant it came from.. AND this clone is growing indoors. also, the indoor cutting leaves are greener and thicker than the leaves from the plant it came from that is outdoors, go figure!

what is "rock wool"? never heard of it.

it's basically natural rock that has been heated and spun into a sponge like material, it's specifically designed for cuttings, but you can sprout seeds in them too.. it's used a lot in hydroponics, but it can be used in soil as well. after the roots emerge you just bury the "plug" in soil. it's actually superior to root cuttings in rockwool compared to soil because it allows a lot more oxygen to the stem so it roots without the stem rotting, which can happen with pepper cuttings because they typically take long to root.

i can also say that i've rooted peppers with and without rooting hormone, without, it takes at least twice as long, so definitely recommend to use it.

Thank you.

With a cloner you should get roots in 10 to 14 days if your res temp and ph are correct. I use a setup made myself using Dewey misters. I change my res every 7 days. Peppers are as easy to clone as it gets. I also leave the lights on 24/7

I did a little research on the rock wool last night and it seems the PH of the water is a big issue. I had not worried about that before. Who knows what my well water PH is???

if you don't have problems with your water PH for your garden then i wouldn't worry about it for the rockwool. like with most plants, as long as it's under 7 its fine.. get a ph meter, they're cheap and test it..

these are also fairly new in recent years as a rockwool alternative and made of tree bark

I use pine bark in my containers for hot peppers.