thats very true... in order for a fluoro set up to compete, you need to run more power and put more time and effort into planning your lighting scheme... and if its anything more than a personal grow, not worth it, otherwise they can be very worthwhile... but you actually have to plan and research your bulbs as well, its way more than just this kind for veg and that kind for flower when you have like 10 different spectrographs to choose from

my fluoro and hps (only hps, before supplementation) grows were very comparable, but i ran about twice as much watts PSF with the fluoro, and had a single female in a 4ft. tall, 1 sq.ft. box to accomplish it lol

all im sayin is that fluoros now are not even in the same league as fluoro from back in the day before HID lights... there is no comparison to be made, unless your trying to go full cycle with one cheapo cool white or something stupid like that.... it happened, not everybody tryin to grow back then was that silly, but it did happen. HID lights are the best option for *almost* everyone... new to growing, need some crazy amount of yield, etc... for small grows, or stealth boxes that dont use a 30dB air mover screamin in the closet all night long in order to keep that damn thing cool (why i started messin with a fluoro box in the first place ), areas with heat issues or space limitations, etc...

i did my 1sq.ft. fluoro box as an experiment, for fun, and i was impressed enough with it to keep it around