Kelp, thrips, ants, and other questions

I have a few unrelated questions:
1, I just bought Sea Green kelp extract from Bromide.. has anyone used this? Can you use it on all plants? Also, I have fish emulsion, but was wondering if you could use it as a foliar spray?

2, I have a TON of thrips in my lawn and yard. They are starting to chow doen on the wax begonias I just planted and some other plants. Any suggestions on how to get the thrips under control?

3, I just discovered an ant colony near my raspberries - I think they are the stinging kind of ants, and I want them gone. Any organic ways to get rid of ants?

Thanks for any help on these completely unrelated questions!!

Mike's Gardening Tips

Mike's Boric Acid Ant Repellant
(as seen in his weekly column in the Philadelphia Daily News)

Mix the following:

* 3 cups water
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 teaspoons boric acid

LABEL ANY UNUSED LIQUID WITH A SKULL AND CROSSBONES!!! (so nobody takes a big gulp of it)

Pour into jar lids or soak cotton balls in it. And don't kill the ants who come to it.... they will carry it to the nest and kill the rest of the population.

So I just used some of the kelp as a spray the other day. Some plants are looking burnt. I followed the directions on the bottle. Has anyone else had this happen with kelp?

I use kelp often with no burn. Always spray in the cool part of the day and with a clean spray tank. Never try to make your sprayer do double duty as a herbicide sprayer and a amendment/insecticide/fungicide sprayer. Got to have separate for each.

So thripmaster, any advice on thrips? :-)

Nuke them with abamectin!....no wait....this is the organic forum!!!! Sorry.
Ok, so how about taking the tobacco out of some cigs and steep in water over night. Strain, then spray in the cool of the next morning. Voila...you own "neonicotinoid" insecticide!

How about diatamaceous earth for the thrips?

I have only heard of people using diatamaceous earth for slugs/snails by spreading it on the ground. Can you use it for other things?

We just purchased a 7 pound bag of DE and it says it's good for slugs, ants and earwigs, (which are chowing down on my marigolds). I applied it yesterday so I'll let you know what happens to all my afore mentioned garden visitors.

Just to follow-up, I tried the boric acid mix, and the ants didnt even go to it. They are semi-red ants, so I'm wondering if they aren't attracted to sugar? Any other suggestions? If I end up having to use some pesticide for them, do you think it would be ok for my reaspberries? (their hill is really close to the veggie garden, too. Still haven't tried the tobacco brew. Maybe next week :)

I find that the drier it is, the more ants there are. I wonder if plain old soap & water would get rid of the ants, by pouring a pan of soapy water on their hills? Something from a long ago memory is stirring...

Pennyroyal or mint grown or strewn for getting rid of ants. They hate the smell. I've read that lemon balm or lemon dish soap works, and it has worked on my foundation and in the house for odorous ants( the teeny tiny ones that sneak in for sugar or grease). Orange-based cleaner will deter them as well.

My ants seem too smart to take the borax- syrup mixture. They seem to know when you are trying to poison them!

Safer makes a fire ant killer that is made from orange peels.

I've usually found that black ants will go for the sweet syrups, but red ants tend to be meat eaters and are less attracted to sweet tastes. The red ants have a stronger sting (bite?) because they hunt other insects or small mammals.

http://www.saferbrand.com/bitingstinging/fireant.htm

I remember red ants from my childhood in Okla. eeeuuuwww they hurt especially if you accidently step in a hill.