When the plants are small ,i.e seedlings the area of the leaves is small so regardless of what light they have they still only can photosynthesise a certain amount of light so cfl's are ideal for quite awhile and if you have enough of them for the whole veg cycle.Thanks so much for the advice! They are looking better now. I think I will get some CFLs. From what I read they can be pretty reliable, so it will be a good investment. As far as I can tell I should also be able to use the CFL for vegging. Bonus! Running the 600W light makes the electric meter spin round like a carnival ride...