Requesting advice on potential pest problem

Noticed today on the soil surface of one of my pepper plants tiny little white things - maybe eggs? They aren't round they look like very thin grains of rice and are pure white. I grew this plant from seed and have not used any feeding products yet.

For now I have isolated it before deciding what to do - it looks healthy and probably a lot of you know what this might be but I'm very new to this so would be grateful for any advice please.

Thanks

Do they move ?

Apart from wood ash  blown in, it could be whitefly, as they can be quite into peppers under the right conditions.
While not the worst of pests, If allowed to hang around they can cause a bit of a malaise. Easily dealt with quite early on ... look for sticky deposits, malformed young leaves. Look for movement as Sally suggests, or alternatively look under a magnifying glass.

Quote from: seaside on June 22, 2013, 14:56

Look for movement as Sally suggests,

I'm thinking spring tails of course!

And hence the need for a magnifying glass to help diagnose the issue... lots of critters out there.  A bit old fashioned I know, but I find a magnifying glass invaluable ... a bit like an electrical circuit tester.

If they don't move, check for Greenfly. These are probably the remains of dead ones but there may be others hiding around the plant. Squash them and find some predators (ladybirds and ladybird larvae) and put those on the plants.