Question
Recently, I bought a Dieffenbacchia at a nursery.  For a while, something was voraciously eating the leaves.  That has sort of stopped, but now I just noticed that the soil around the base of the plant is littered with little bright green balls.  Are they eggs? Should I try to remove them?

Answer
Sandra,

The balls may also be slow releas fertilizer. Caterpillar eggs usually in clumps. The culprit eating your plant may have neen any one of a number of insects. I would wipe off the leaves on both sides with a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water then putthe mix in a spray bottle and spray the surface of the soil with the mix. That should kill any insects on contact. It will not have a risidual effect. Good luck.

Darlene