This is an immobile nutrient issue. Nitrogen is mobile, and an N deficiency almost always starts from the bottom of the plant.
This looks a lot more like Iron deficiency. Iron is immobile, which means that the deficiency will always show up at the new growth at the top of the plant.
Iron deficiency is often caused by too high pH, and over watering, both causing lockout. There are other reasons of course, but those are the two primary ones. Since your plants have no indication of over watering, I'd say that's not the cause.
What nutrients are you providing the plants? What is the pH of the water/nutrient mix? What medium?