Quote Originally Posted by BobBong
So.. there's alot of pro's and con's about CFL's. Alot of people think that if you have a 150w CFL that only pulls 45w you're only getting.. 45watts. This is wrong.... YES it only uses 45watts.. so in reality it IS just a 45watt CFL. But CFL's are designed to put out more energy than they pull. So your 45watt CFL will give you close to 150watts of Incandescent lighting without the heat.
Over time, they'll degrade. losing the light intensity until eventually the bulb just burns out.
Incandescents can be used for growing...the problem is the heat, and the light spectrum.. it's hard to find an incandescent that is "cool white" or puts out 5000k+.. with sufficient wattage.

I've used these CFL's for my past 3 grows. using even.. 3 of my original bulbs. I've had great success.

You don't need these massive Growing CFL's that pull 125watts..although they are nice.. and obviously you'll do well with them. it can be overkill for someone who's just trying to get 1 plant off the ground. As those bulbs can run fairly pricey.

I found a nice link to CFL info, also there is some LED lighting info at the bottom, although not very informative for growing.
CFL

What are some con's about CFL's?
They're pretty weak in comparison to HID,HPS and MH lighting..But those types of lighting aren't necessarily needed to grow properly. Ideal? maybe.. but not needed.

For those of you with limited space, limited money, limited..anything..but still feel the urge to grow your greenthumb.

CFL's might be the way to go...

Cheers guys,
Hope this helps some of you.

Bob.

P.S. Each bulb cost approx. 14$ Canadian. and about 3$ for the light socket.
Hey Bob how many of them lights do you have per plant ? and are they the 45watt cool white ?