Finally back to vegetative growth.
They are growing fine but not used to these super short node spacings. Leaves are all up on top of each other!
Towards the end of this week I see the old skinny leaf syndrome is back. Also see signs of what seems to be nitrogen deficiency... which makes little sense.
Still going to go against common sense and blast them with a nitrogen tea.
A important thing to note is that my source water is 9.03 pH. It comes from an artesian well and no matter how many times I use pH down to bring it to a decent ph, it keeps going back up (if I let it sit with the aerator for a few hours - I tested this).
But!! I have found a new source of spring water which I have tested to 8.03 so I will try that as a water source for a few weeks and see what happens.
Performing second topping at end of week.