Powdery Mildew has nothing to do with the soil, so there is no good reason to replace that. There are several different species of fungi that are Powdery Mildew and the spores that cause it all float around in the air. While common gardening myths say that high temperatures and humidity promote PM on plants that is not necessarily true and having wet leaves is not a cause either, in fact wetting plant leaves can wash the spores off. Perhaps this article from Growing a Greener World might be of some help. http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/controlling-or-eliminating-powdery-mildew/ kimmq is kimmsr

Floating row cover avoids any need for a spray. Next season, loosely blouse the cover and secure the edges as soon as you plant, be that by seed or transplant.

You can do that if you wish. But, you felt something was wrong enough to post it here. My thoughts are that you might have over fertilized it or there is another problem in the soil. Transplanting it as is, will just transplant the problem along with it. You asked "if the plant was even salvageable at this point". It gives me the impression that it was in pretty bad shape. I merely offered my suggestion as to what I would do in your position. One other thing you might want to do is to harvest the red (ripe) peppers. Give the plant the opportunity to concentrate it's effort on the rest of the plant. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

This time of year, south of 'Frisco,' (I know y'all hate that term, about as much as we hate San Antone, but anyway...) you should be watering no more frequently than once every 4 weeks. Here is a picture of a neighborhood in east PA which is full of contractor grade KBG lawns. The picture was taken in July several years ago. The green lawn was replaced with a non-contractor grade seed, but the main point of difference is that the green lawn is watered once a week (during hottest heat of summer) while the rest are watered every day. Thank you to morpheuspa for the picture. Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.