although you can have fun and even grow some nice plants using cfl's...you will never achieve the same results as a 400w HID.

don't kid yourself...If you are not limited by grow room size or heat, due to poor circulation...Then you need to use HID's.

I have used cfl's and they do nicely for veg, but do not match any of my HID's; From 250w-1000w. lw