Day 40, I recently discovered my ph meter was faul...

You do not need to pH your water unless it is abnormally high 8+ I do not pH, my water is soft and 7.6 When I used to pH my water it always made them yellow Now I stop worrying about pH and decided to chuck pH tester and trust the soil microorganisms to do their parts after advice from a family of compost makers we know how to make compost with no pH issue. You should not pH water, and no leaching unless you grow with salt and perlite. It works! It is over watering that create huge problems in the soil and for the plant, another culprits is too much intense light for too long!