QUESTION: I planted some mums in pots and they were doing really well until about a week ago. I noticed the buds weren't opening and it looked as though they had been eaten and were also covered with a clear, slimy-looking substance. What is happening to them?ANSWER: It looks like slugs are after your mums. Those little beasts haven't been out in such big numbers in recent months, it seems to me. They like water, though, and will look for it. They also like tender growth on flowers, such as marigolds in early summer and mums in autumn. The clear signal is the slimy-looking substance they leave as a trail.If you go out after dark, you will probably see them.When they are few in number, it's easy to lift them off your plants. Then of course you have to kill them with a bang or slice of the trowel. I prefer this method because it's free.But there are plenty of choices in traps and baits out there. The nice thing about the traps is that slugs disappear inside and you never see them again. Baits tend to leave the carcass right there where the slug ingested it, and the sight of a dissolving slug is not pretty.If I used bait, I would put it somewhere out of sight, like under low-on-the-ground shrubs or leafy perennials.But you must do something, or slugs will ruin the beauty of your potted mums, just when we all need something good to look at and brighten the dusty scene.