Sauswaus

@Sauswaus, 8.2pH is pretty high for tap water, but I have no idea what your source is as we are definitely on different continents. Also a sticking point here if you are planning to use tap water and a soil with microbes to balance pH you will need to be very sure there is no Chlorine or Chloramine in your water, they will destroy your microbes that you believe are balancing your pH. Chlorine is easy to use a cheap aquarium air pump and stone for 24 hours and volatilize off, Chloramine requires a carbon filter to remove. The USA has mostly moved to chloramine so we have to carbon filter here. Now to address your questions, here is what I see. - Incoming water 8.2, outgoing water 6.0-6.7. Your water seems to not be heavily buffered (Low Total Alkalinity) or your soil is well buffered, either way your soil is doing most of the work for you and you should continue to adjust each time as you are, this will help but take a few waterings to build a buffer in the soil. I (almost) always pre-flush/buffer my soil a week before planting/transplanting and regardless of how much I trust the soil manufacture to do their jobs right. - Soil 6.2-6.9, adjusted water input 6.0, water out 5.9-6.1 I would suspect the reason for the pH drop in the run-off is due to water soluble nitrogen running off, nitrogen is potentially acidic and could account for that minor drop especially if your water lacks significant buffer, it could also be calcium(buffer) in your water getting bound into the soil. If you are measuring your soil pH by from the top half only you may be getting a higher portion of that calcium or other buffer from the water that is binding to the top layers as it runs through and the more water soluble nitrogen is hanging out lower in the soil. Now all of that said, I believe now that you have a meter and are on the right track with adjusting your pH you should be fine so keep doing what your are now doing. I also always suggest some Kelp/Seaweed extract in a Foliar Spray or even root drench also to give a quick shot of micro nutrients whenever a plant shows any stress. Also find out if you have Chlorine/Chloramine in you water, if you do you need to eliminate this before getting good organic buffering results, otherwise sticking to bottled liquid nutrients with pH up and down is the better route. Some Bonus Reading, If you have time and really love complex systems google both "soil ph and nutrient availability" to see what nutrients are most available, and also "Mulder's Chart" which gives each nutrients antagonistic and synergistic effects on each other...you'll probably hate trying to make sense of this but its good to reference as I never assume one issue is the cause of everything, in your case your pH is the big problem I saw but as you find out more it may end up being a nutrient that the soil is lacking or even one that is too high leading to a lock out situation at your particular pH. Everything is connected and the more data points you have the better your assumptions and corrections will be.

@TC_Connoisseur, Thanks again for an extensive reply. It's a lot of information to take in as I am completely new to nutrients, pH and all that, but the main reason I enjoy growing is because there is so much to read up on and learn about so I will definitely check out your suggested bonus reading. I am also positive that my tap water does not contain any Chlorine. The Netherlands has very strict rules on the quality of our tap water.

@TC_Connoisseur, Here is a short version of my latest update: pH meter just came in with the mail. Calibrated and took measurements right away. My tapwater measures at a 8.2 pH, which is even higher than I expected. What's confusing me is that the soil measures at 6.2-6.9. Flushed the pots for more measurements. - Runoff water flushed with the 8.2 pH tap water I've been giving them from the start: pH 6 - 6.7 differing between pots. - Runoff water flushed with tap water corrected to pH 6.0: pH 5.9 - 6.1 Now I'm wondering if - just like the Royal Mix I'll be using - the Pokon Seed & Cutting soil is self-regulating organic soil. Couldn't find the answer to this anywhere so I'm assuming the answer is no. Soil pH should be at 5.2-6.2 from the bag though. Any ideas? I have no idea what to make of this.

@Sauswaus, I remember having the same dilemma when I first started growing, college budgets are rough to start growing on, but I learned a lot and kept adding to my collection of toys over time. If money is tight I always recommend the pH strips (200 for USD$8) as a better than nothing just so you can get in the ballpark, if you've got just a touch more money I would actually suggest pool specific strips(50 for USD$8), the reason for that is it will also allow you to get a look at your Total alkalinity which can help you determine your pH adjustments required (with some math and/or experience) also your total chlorine and free chlorine will help you check up on your carbon water filters once you get that deep into it.

Hey @Sauswaus, I just wanted to weigh in real quickly on that leaf deformation and tip burning, I have seen similar in my grows before and it came down to pH issues so I would wonder what your pH of your water and run-off is, since they are such small containers it should be easy to check and adjust the pH. I would start with a flush, then pH adjustment flush, then followed by a pH adjusted nutrient application...hopefully your soil drains well if not your may want to be careful on flooding the root zone that heavily. Also I've found a foliar spray of seaweed/kelp extract is always welcome to any plant showing signs of stress.

@TC_Connoisseur, thanks for the reply. I ended up broke af after buying seeds and nutrients (student life lol) so I've had to postpone the purchase of a pH meter, aware the importance of a correct pH. I have ordered one by now and it should come in by Thursday. I'll be uploading data as soon as I get it in the mail. In hindsight I maybe should have saved on some of the nutrients and gotten a pH meter instead. Knowledge for my next grow...