Confused on soil pH

I’m using a top soil from home depot, I checked the pH-7.0 I used 4 parts soil, 1 part peat, 1 part perlite, and 1 part vermiculite. I’m ready to transplant into 5 gal. pails. I rechecked the pH, its 8.6 , I checked the pH of the soil my plants were in, its 5.6 ( same soil ) The water i use has a high pH, so i reduced it to 6.1 Now my leaves are starting to look like shit starting at the bottom and working its way up. any advice would be helpful

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How about a picture?

The peat in your mix breaks down over time, becoming more acidic. That’s why you are seeing it with your plants.

I would add some dolomitic lime to the soil you’ve made as a PH buffer.

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yea, the peat is about 5 years old, that would explain a lot

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Dolomite lime will also add calcium and mag to the soil

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thanks for the insight, the leaves were looking like a magnesium deficiency was taking place

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