i think my plant is sick

This is my first grow, and I don't know what's happened. The plant looks sick, the leaves are drying out...even the ones coming out from the buds. it seems to have been deteriorating for the past several weeks. the trichomes are still milky white to clear, although it's been flowering for over 8 weeks.

i picked a bud last week and it wasn't very potent. it hardly even tasted/smelled like weed.

maybe this is just the reality of using seeds from a bag? but why is it sick?

could it be that the lighting is insufficient? i only have a floro bulb over it.

but it did so well until recently.

how many watts is the flouro, how many lumen output, also is it a daylight (bluish)floro?---good for vegging, not good for flowering. or more soft white--yellow (orange)--buds need the red orange and you might think of buying some more floro's. They need as much light as you can afford

sounds like inadequate lighting.

do you think there's any saving them now?

it's been flowering so long, and it's pretty fucked up now.

Best bet is too start over and do it right. Start with some good lighting. Before you make a decision read this.

HID (High Intensity Discharge) Lamps are:

• Efficient. They put out more light, with less energy usage, than any other type of illumination available to indoor growers.
• Bright. HID's produce more light than other types of indoor horticultural lighting.
• Expensive. HID's cost more than flourescents. They range in price from $50-$600 dollars.
• Hot. HID's produce considerably more heat than standard fluorescents.

Fluorescent lamps are:

• Inexpensive. Shoplight fixtures can be purchased for as little as $7. Compact fluorescent bulbs only cost a couple of dollars a piece.
• Locally Available. Most discount stores and home improvement stores carry inexpensive, fluorescent fixtures and bulbs.
• Fine for vegetative growth. Fluorescent bulbs put out plenty of light for plants growing vegetatively, including mothers, seedlings and clones. Some growers prefer fluorescents for vegetative growth because of the slower pace of growth and better root development.
• Fluorescents need to be in close proximity to achieve their rated output, which means their canopy penetration is more limited than HID's.
• Comparatively inefficient. 10 forty watt fluorescent bulbs use the same amount of energy as a 400 watt HID, but produce far less light. Since they use the same amount of energy but produce less light, the remaining must be given off as heat. Contrary to how it may first appear, fluoros actually run hotter than the equivalent wattage of HID-- they just disperse the heat over a wider area.

but how many lights? were you using just 1 flor.. how many lumens?

mojie,

thanks so much for the info.

i've read up on this a bit. i wonder about the hps lights. i see that i can purchase them for relatively cheap 1000 Watt HPS
but can i just screw these into any light socket?

i was just using one 60 watt (equivalent) compact bulb.

is there any way around making a large investment for lighting? i just want to grow one or two plants at a time.

if i were to buy a $50 HID bulb, would i see a large impact on my electric bill? would i need a fan to cool things down?