| I have used water soluble liquid and granular fertilizers for many years and have never, ever had a problem when watering normally with those products. Nor have I ever seen one that warns you not to touch the foliage with the liquid. On the contrary, most of them have directions regarding foliar feeding, specifically. It makes no sense at all to sell a soluble fertilizer product that is going to kill the foliage. Think about it. Soluble fertilizers have always been my preference as I believe that the sticks or 'pills' can end up causing the burning of roots. I suspect that you are either misreading the directions or using something that is not fertilizer. Fertilizers in a liquid carrier are formulated to be distributed in enough water to move throughout the soil/root volume. You should never water your plant (with plain water) in little sips and that applies for liquid fertilizers, too. I'd be most interested in seeing a picture of the label, if possible...or at least knowing the name of the product so that I can look up the label. Plants get more use out of soluble fertilizers if taken up by the roots. Foliar feeding is usually considered as a temporary measure. Some plants even close up their stomates when they are misted. Caveats: don't get a lot of strong liquid fertilizer on a wilted plant and don't let it accumulate on tender flowers. | 
