I'm not surprised by your results - you had better spectrum than HPS and you had conical reflectors for the HID which greatly improved the photon flux density compared to a traditional batwing or light enclosure. Had you installed those HIDs horizontaly and in a similar setup compared with the CFLs (no reflector except the top,) I'm almost positive the HIDs would have been weaker compared to the CFLs.

Awesome results, nonetheless! I've always preferred conical reflectors and vertical HIDs over horizontal ones with batwings or enclosures - mugh higher efficiency of light concentration, much better results every single time.