I'm happy to post information about my routine with the plants.
First, I'd say that I put no plants out until they are good sized and hardy. Rushing a plant outside when it hasn't reached a suitable size and vigor will get you nowhere. In any event, they will not do anything except feed the slugs until the outdoor temperatures are warm.
I plant all of my plants in Miracle-Gro® Moisture Control® Potting Mix. It's expensive, but I'd rather have ten plants in good material than twenty in poor material. I have 40 plants. I started 185 plants this year and all the rest I passed to my friends. Understand that I don't buy new potting soil every year. Most of my plants are in containers so I just buy enough to top them off. Even the plants that are not planted in containers are planted in holes I dug and filled with Miracle-Gro® Moisture Control® Potting Mix.
Yes, I have an automatic irrigation system using the micro sprinklers (not drip). At this point (early) in the season, I run them for ten minutes on Monday and again for ten minutes on Friday. When the plants become larger, the heat during the day is higher and the vegetative & fruit loads are greater, I'll increase the frequency and amount of irrigation.
I fertilize with Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food. I rarely use the hose-end sprayer. Generally, I put five scoops (the scoop that comes in the plant food bag) into a five gallon bucket which I then fill with water and mix. I'll put one or two liters of this around each plant. Do this about every three weeks.
This has all been trial and error over the past few years and I'm learning something every day. Some of this (and other) information can be seen on the Chiles page of my website:
http://www.knot2worry.us/Chiles.html
Enjoy!
Big Mike