i just dont under stand why these guys will laydown 200 to 300 dollars for cfls and accesories and then argue they cant afford HID lighting....i mean if they would do some homework instead of reading half a cfl thread and think..."well 2 people sadi it was cheaper so thats the route ill go"...then they are on here 8 weeks later asking why their buds are so small and why the plant isnt producing as well ....or my favorite is..." my cab is way overheated..i dont know why i only have 12 23w cfls in there..so that cant be it because cfls dont give off heat"....quit being sheeple and educate yourself....
Well I don't think any CFL grow started with all the lights.
A CFL grow is very scalable.
I am on the low end of HIDs.
I started with a 60W incandescent grow bulb for a week or two on the seedling. Then 70W HPS then a 150W HPS for the rest of the veg.
Now flowering 3 plants under 2 150W HPS.
The CFL route (or mine) was no giant out lay. Sprout a seed and if it seems to be going well, add to the system. I can see the point of starting cheap to get used to growing. And build from there.
But if you are serious about growing and just starting out. Start the seeds via CFL's, if they look good get at least a 150W HPS (Deep Homo and Blowes have 'em if you don't want the mail/net ordering) before you go into flowering.
I also don't see buying high quality seeds then skimping on the lights. bag-seed, I can understand that.
Seems everyone goes balls to the wall on nutes, soil, temp, humidity, even CO2, but skimp on lights, probably the most important aspect/ingredient.
(I do wanna do a full MG soil and nutes under a CFL and see how it comes out. I bet I can do well. If its worth the effort is another story)