The rains woke up the slug army
I'm not new at battling slugs, my Mom used to have it on our chore list as kids, since we ate from our yard growing up, no mercy "take the box of salt out there and get them!"
I've learned a lot more about them the last years, and find I can effectively reduce the population to manageable numbers in just a couple years of gardening at a new place.
Here's the thing about slugs: That slime trail that they leave is how they navigate, it's critical that a gardener patrols the perimeter of a garden area during the rainy season once it's warmed up. If you can get the slugs before they create a slug trail highway into your beds, half the battle is won.
They hide during the sunny days, and forage at night or when it's raining. SO get out there at night with a flashlight and get them!
I used to just step on them, only to find that by the next day there were a half dozen other slugs now eating the one I'd stepped on, or flies rolling in to lay their eggs. The best method, and it might seem gross, mean or extreme....is to use bamboo kabob skewers and spear them, load up the skewer and toss it aside in you compost or garbage.
Be diligent in the spring, when the eggs that may have been laid in your beds are hatched and the tiny little bastards start going at your greens. Use slug bait when you've planted out seedlings, and keep on your nightly patrols.
In a couple years you'll find yourself buying less slug bait, and shedding fewer tears over losing plants.
Good luck garden warriors! <3
