Humbled by the kind words Garrarufa.
So over the 43 years of growing chilli peppers I have done mountains of research and experimentation and found what works for me so here is the basics...
Super doper hots...
Sow in November as they require a long growing season.
Average hots (habernero etc) sow early Jan
normal sow Feb
Odd ones I grow like Trinidad Perfume (sweet no heat) same as Habs.
I always sow in the propogater straight from the packet and once germinated transplant to a compost pellet to grow on, this way when ready to be transplanted again there is no root damage.
Clearly with early sowings these have extra needs, I use a grow tent with the grow light, now on to my fave word of all time.... Photoperiodism, I have discovered that chillies require a certain amount of light but more importantly they require a certain amount of dark! I average light to around 12 hours a day, I looked at the areas/ countries they grow in natural habitat and took the average light levels, I found this made a big difference to growing when young.
As mentioned above I feed Maxicrop pretty much from the start, once a week and half the normal measures/ mix suggested until two sets of leaves are established.
Once the roots start to appear at the bottom/ edge of the compost pellet then I pop them into a 3inch pot to grow on then until the weather is safe to transfer them to their final pot.
The final pot is a standard flower supermarket 10L pot, I mix both vermiculite and perlite with the compost, water as required.
I have nipped out the tops and yes you get more but I tend not too as I grow more than enough plants to supply chillies for the year, fresh, dried, flaked and powered.
Hope this helps, its not really rocket science just treat as a normal plant, dont over water and feed them once a week.