I'm not sure about what transplanting methods you use, but it seems obvious that those plants either aren't interested, or are incapable of putting roots down into that mix, for whatever reason. You say 1c of lime to some 88 quarts of soilmix and amendments? That sounds like way too little lime to buffer that much potentially acidic 'sour' mix. You casually claim that 'you know when to water etc', so that isn't the issue', but I on the other hand, with a mere 41 years experience consider watering to be an ongoing study.
