i have grown with HPS, MH and CFL.
if you have the budget and the electrical knowledge to go HID from the start, there is absolutely no reason to go with CFL's.
a HID system with Metal Halide for the vegging stage for good stout initial growth at a decent light spectrum just cant be beaten.... however, CFL's do an excellent job at veg growth and now that i have this metric ass load of CFL's i will be using them in my veg setup when i get my HPS lights.
High Pressure Sodium flat out kicks ass for flowering, although in a perfect world, having a MH in with it sure helps things out. Monster buds of incredible density. In my new setup, i will be going back to HPS bulbs for flowering... i do not think i will be adding a MH bulb though because i just do not have the space. people argue all day long about which is more efficient and cost effective, but at the end of the day, HPS makes the best buds.... the light spectrum is different for HPS than for CFL and that might have a lot to do with it... do not know for sure.
while both types of HID lighting takes more skill and care to setup, in the end they are FAR easier to deal with. you keep them (depending on wattage) anywhere from a few inches to a couple of feet from the plants and you adjust them once a week or so by just shortening the hang chain.
what CFL's allow is for meager electrical skills to be used in the assembly of the light rig and no real specialty equipment being needed. They also allow you to spend $50 and get started... spend another $20 next week and add to it... and so on. CFLs also allow you to wrap your plant in lights so that more of the lower bud sites develop.
the pain in the ass of CFL is that you wind up with so much space being taken up by lights and wires and then they take far more adjustment... a CFL should be between a half and two inches (depending on wattage) from the plants... you can have that kind of growth in just one dark cycle and wind up with your buds crammed into the bulbs when the lights kick on.... burnt leaf tips are one thing... burnt buds are another... bad news to burn the buds! daily adjustments of the lights are almost always required for optimum growth and budding.
a good grower can get good results with either type of lights. a bad craftsman blames his tools.... ever notice though that the really good craftsmen always have really good tools?
at the end of the day, no matter which types of lights you use, you are still going to find yourself at with at least 250 true watts to get good results.
how many watts do you have going with your CFL's? (true watts, not what they look like)
how much time do you spend adjusting your bulbs? if not that much i would bet you have them too far away
a stretched plant is a light starved plant.
HID's make it so you can have a day off and not worry about them. CFL's take micromanagement.
