First lil' grow

So this was a real panic week for the Haze Berry. The Strawberry Banana just continued to do its thing, buds fattening up, orange hairs increasing, trichomes increasing. The Haze Berry on the other hand had a lot going on and I think this week I really learnt a lot about what not to do. I noticed some of the leaves had dark necrotic spots, yellowing and also tips curling upwards among other various symptoms. I scoured the internet for diagnoses but it was confusing, it could've been any number of things. Finally, after posting a grow question on here, someone told me it probably had nutrient lockout, a result of me overfeeding it, and recommended a flush. I followed their advice and it took days and days for the soil to dry so that I could water it again with a much lower dose of nutrients, the whole time its condition becoming progressively worse. It was hard to sit there and watch and do nothing. Although the advice was fair and sort of correct, I had a feeling the nutrient lockout might've actually been the result of a soil pH problem, even though I couldn't figure out why the SB-Auto was running so smoothly. I invested in a decent pH-reader, bought some Green Buzz Nutrients Fast Plants Spray, some 1ml and 10ml measuring syringes, and a bottle of BioBizz pH-, (also a bottle of Green Buzz Nutrients Clean Fruits for later on). I tested the pH of the filtered water I've been using and it was 6.3, though the BioBizz Bloom feed, drove it up to between 6.6 and 6.7. Sure enough, when I measured the run off from the Haze Berry Auto's soil, it tested 6.7. This was even after 1-2 waterings using a few mls p/L of distilled vinegar to try and drive down the pH level (before I was even certain it was a pH problem, but you know, panic mode...), meaning it might've been even closer to 6.8 for awhile. When I measured the run off from the SB-Auto, it was 6.3/6.4, so for whatever reason in a much more acceptable pH bracket, which sort of explains why it hasn't really had any problems. I watered til the run off of the HB-Auto was 6.1 and then fed it with a pH 6.2 solution, to see if this helped. Sure enough, some of the redness on the main trunk dissipated, the buds began to look a little healthier and some new growth appeared without problems. By this point though, it had already lost so many leaves to the whole stressful ordeal, I knew it would be a long recovery if it at all even managed to recover. The problems were compounded by the fact that I had defoliated the plant a little over-ambitiously the week prior (rookie mistake, I know), and so when all this stuff began playing out, it had a significantly reduced availability of nutrients stored in lower leaves and fan leaves to access. The plant then had to draw from the next layer of leaves to get through the hard times, which left it completely bare in comparison to what it once was. I now believe the problem was also connected to over-watering, which is why I'm not sure in hindsight if flushing it was a good idea. I feel like I further compacted the soil in that process as well as drenched it, leading to more difficulties for the roots to access oxygen. Not only this, but the fact it had lost so much foliage meant that in comparison to the SB-Auto, the plant had very little surface area through which water could evaporate, meaning it drank much slower. I think over-feeding, over-watering, not having a reliable pH meter, excessive defoliation all joined forces to fuck the plant. Notes to future-self and other first timers out there: Don't skimp on spending when it comes to buying useful tools like a pH meter! So invaluable to accurately narrow down the list of potential causes when your plant is struggling! Avoid making decisions in the dark and don't panic. Be really careful when defoliating and err on the side of conservative! Those leaves could come in super handy if there are problems later on. Go easy on the watering and feeding and don't respond to symptoms of nutrient deficiency by immediately feeding/watering more. I'm now giving the plant a lot less water than I was as well as feeding it significantly less. When I do water/feed it, I test the pH-level of the solution and adjust it accordingly. I'm using the Foliar Spray from Green Buzz Nutrients every now and then to give the plant at least some nutrients through its leaves while it recovers instead of overloading the soil and roots with water and nutrients. It was saddening at first but now I've accepted that the plant is fucked and will just see what happens with it and whether I am able to bring it back to an okay-ish state before its time to harvest. It still has buds so worst case scenario it can be used in baking or to make hash. In any case, it's been a lot of learning curves, which will hopefully prepare me for future grows.