I know I've lost seedlings to slugs this year. The slugs were just sooooo happy and sooooo comfy with all the early rain we had. Slug population is booming. It may be a slug problem for you. Generally cold just slows down germination. Slugs can destroy an entire patch of seedlings in one night, though. My slugs love beer, and they love it to death, fortunately. I've got two cases of the cheapest I could get and the slug population is decreasing every night. Hopefully in a few years I'll have a manageable slug population. ;-)

That's a good point. I'll put out beer traps tonight.

Let me know what you catch. I just love hearing about slug death by alcoholism!

Last year when I put out my first beer traps (those shallow 8 oz deli containers, set at mulch level) one trap alone caught over 10 slugs in one night. Beer traps at the least really give you a clue as to where your slugs are the most numerous.

And, I'm not catching as many slugs as I did last year, which is good news for my beleaguered hostas!

I also saved many egg shells this winter, ground them in a coffee grinder, and cicumscribed several vulnerable plants. It seems like they're helping, as well, but it's hard to make a definite determination since they only deter slugs, which leaves no evidence. I would imagine the key is to be sure you put enough egg shells around the perimeter.

Go out at night with a flashlight and look for critters. Cutworms are my worse munches on seedlings and feed at night as do slugs.