pH question

I’ve got a flood and drain setup and I set the pH to 5.8. The plants were growing slowly and they had deficiencies even though I was using good nutes. I let the pH drift to 6.1 and the plants started growing better. Is it possible that some plants prefer a different pH than the standard 5.8?

I made sure my meter was calibrated correctly.

My nutrient mixes to 6.2-6.3 imo it's perfect.