Hello everyone. My first crop of peppers are growing beyond expectations, with plenty of bright purple Tazmanian Habanero pods growing much faster than I expected. I have noticed white dusty spots on the tops of the leaves in my raised bed which I can wipe off with my fingers. Is this simply a hard water deposit or something more serious? Also, several of my Atomic Starfish, I know, Brazilian Starfish, have large brown blotches on some of their leaves. The underside of the leaf appears to have been scrapped, leaving that portion of the leaf very thin. Is this aphids? Should I simply cut off these leaves or leave them or spray all the plants with soap or?? As a first time gardener I am at a loss as to whether either of these things are real problems or just normal garden life. I did find a catepillar on one of my plants not in the raised beds and invited it to leave, but those plants do not have the brown blotches nor the white spots.

I have been alternating epsom salts and fish emulsion each week and wonder if since the peppers are flowering and producing pods if I should stop the fish emulsion until after harvest. Any ideas?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Steve