Now I'm a bit confused, how does your RO water have pH of 8? That makes no sense
I used pH UP to make my RO water higher ( I guess I should have said that in the beginning)

I really want to try a soilless organic medium but not go totally hydro. I remixed my peatmoss/perlite mix with some lime today (about a teaspoon per quart). If my plants show some problems due to the pH, I'll switch to some coco based medium (if I can find it) unless someone could suggest another good soilless mix