[adri123]

Can't for the life of me find consistent guidance as to how to grow chillis/Peppers.

Current questions I have are...

Do you take off the first flowers or not?

When to start feeding?

Adri

[mumofstig]

If the plant has split into branches then I don't take off the first flowers.

If it's only a spindly straight up thing then I remove flowers and pinch out growing tip........ maybe not how everybody does it - but it werks fer me 

I only ever feed mine at half strength, but start when the first peppers have set.

[Lardman]

Can't for the life of me find consistent guidance as to how to grow chillis/Peppers.

You wont find any, so much is dependant on what variety you're growing and where you're growing it (geography as well as plant location) and what you want from the plant (yield vs speed).  You have plenty of pepper plants, why not experiment to find out which is best for you and whatever varieties you're growing.

I don't mess about pruning or pull off flower until it's time to over-winter. I feed double strength but ½ as often as do the toms to keep them drier and only after the first fruit have set. That's gone out of the window this year as the plants were struggling and I've had to feed them a general feed already.  That's what "werks for me", MoS has given you what works for her but you'll need to find what works for you. 

[beesrus]

I've grown them for years and years. Tips I have are:-

hard to over-winter without central heating

Water from underneath in pots and they don't mind being a little drier between watering on occasion. Plant out in a greenhouse border preferably. Chuck in a bit of bonemeal into the potting mix

Nibbing off the growing tip early on seems to be a good idea in the long run. I've tried it for the first time on some of my cayenne and fresno this year and early indications are it's worked wonders compared with those I didn't.
 
I never nip off flowers, it's cruel   

[LilacSandy]

I keep potting on till in a 9" pot, never pinch out, just leave them to do their thing.  You can overwinter but I find that the plants get spindly, easiest way is to keep the seeds and so again in Feb.

[Totty]

Certain types overwinter better than others. I tried two last year, one survived and I've been picking for three weeks now off the other one. If you get a plant that shows more vigour than others it's worth trying to overwinter for sure.

Totty

[coop-de-tat]

As a noobie to chilli growing I bought this book:-

Title: Growing Chillies
Paperback: 114 pages
Publisher: Jason Nickels (20 Nov 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0957444605
ISBN-13: 978-0957444607

It's quite pricey (£11.99) but I found it a great help. Perhaps you can get your local library to order it on your behalf? They usually can for a small fee.

Although I would not call it an exhaustive or fully comprehensive guide, it gave me good clear and concise advice on the suitability of different types, choosing, growing and general care of chillies in the UK and other places. It also gives good guidance on the Scoville measures of various types and the difficulty or ease of growing in various environments.

As for feeding, I bought 5l of "Chilli Focus" liquid feed which was recommended to me and the advice the makers give is to feed from seedlings per week or so. As the dose of feed is only 5ml per litre of water it will last me a long time even with the 15 or so plants I have on the go ATM.

CdT