root zone or virus/pathogen of some sort or a mutation / genetic issue.
acid is an acid is a rose is a rose as far as balancing pH. (bases too)
The type of acid is not more or less susceptible to drift.. that's more about the total amount of solutes in the water... larger numbers make for less drift as changes and effects of microbes become a smaller portion of the total. cause and effect.. not magic. This isn't an opinion. Go take a few semesters of college-level chemistry and you'll learn that this is common knowlege.
so, if it ph-balanced the solution, it worked fine. Don't overpay for the branded ph-up and down nonsense. Go buy a 3-gallon jug of 5% white distilled vinegar (acetic acid) and call it a day. It's a great option because it doesn't impact balance of your fertilizer. I've never had to ph-up, so not sure what the best options are for that. if you use sodium bicarbonate, just don't use it on a mother plant. in ~4-6 months it shouldn't accumulate enough Na+ to cause a problem, but a long-term potted plant could eventually.
pH swings can cause wavy/twisted growth because of varying growth rates that result, but that is not the case here. this plant looks sick or genetically defective. If it doesn't grow out of it in newer growth, i'd throw it out and start over. Odd plants can 'finish' but usually some trash results. Not every leaf mutation (if it is that) is like freakshow or that 'duck' leaf pheno etc with decent developing buds. it can very easily mess up a domino of biological processes in the plant.
context matters.. if it'd just be wasted space anyway, can keep growing it and see how it goes for shits and grins. I'd definitely let it go a few more nodes, but in my experience sickly looking plants don't fare well and aren't worth the effort.