Whats a good liquid fertilizer to mix with water to use in a misting bottle ?
I want to try using more than just water to irrigate my seeds.
I can tell you that, when I worked on Shade plantations in Connecticut, we used a Miracle Gro type blue liquid, custom mixed for tobacco. We strengthened the solution as the seedlings grew. We used sterile potting soil without any fertilizer in it and fertilized twice a day, morning and evening.
For my own seedlings of different kinds of tobacco I did well with standard Miracle Gro and unfertilized potting soil. At first, when plants first appeared I used 2 teaspoons to a gallon of water. As they grew I gradually strengthened the solution to a max of one tablespoon/gallon water. As the seedling approached 2-3 weeks to transplanting I added a small amount of urea nitrogen dissolved in water, adding about 2-3 ounces per gallon of the urea solution to the Miracle Grow solution.
I used a spray bottle to apply, and always used plain water right after to wash the fertilizer off the leaves and into the soil where it belongs. This worked out fine. When algae appeared a light application of copper sulfate got rid of it. Copper sulfate is sold everywhere and is cheap. I used standard trays with holes at the bottoms of the cells and did not water them from below. If you choose to add nitrogen, it's better to add too little than too much since it can make the stems thin and spindly, but the nitrogen does increase the size of the leaves noticeably, almost overnight. I applied this fertilizer every 2 or 3 days, not twice a day mixed with watering water, as commercial shade growers do. I watered them every day, sometimes more than once a day, but only applied the fertilizer every couple days. It essential that seedling soil not be allowed to dry out. I used this method for burley and MD 609, but it will work with any tobacco.
With seedlings, less is better than more, fertilizer wise. Have to be conservative and resist the urge to over fertilize.
Hope this helps--the system worked very well for me.
Also, don't expose young seedlings to direct sunlight, especially if they are covered with glass or plastic. During the sunniest part of the day I put a white rag over the trays. That way they still get the ultraviolet energy but won't burn. Temp inside the seedbeds should not exceed 95 degrees, and that only for brief periods. I've seen shade seedlings do fine with temp around 70. A week or so before transplanting it is good to expose them to sunlight, reduce watering and keep uncovered. This toughens them up for transplanting.
CT