Wow. I'm not used to reading an argument without me being directly involved. Kinda weird.

Figure-out your ingoing ph asap. If you have to, look online for your local water quality report, and see what the average is in your neighborhood. If you are using one of those $7 piece of crap moisture/ph meters from WalMart, you'll need a better plan. They are quite inaccurate. A $7 freshwater aquarium ph test kit is a more reliable test for ingoing water. Only drawback is once the water is tinted, it's color-coded result is inaccurate. Hopefully your tapwater is clear.

Could be getting rootbound, too.

The Scale might be residual from the bug treatment(s). Tiz always best to rinse the stuff off after treatments are complete. Or, might be residue from spraying 'em with additives or nutrients?

Since you skipped half the pertinent questions, (like the questions about your feeding and watering schedule) I'll reserve comment on the nitrogen issue. Shortcuts can cause more problems than doing things the right way the first time. Next time, complete the entire form. It asks these questions for a damned good reason.