Maples (Acer species) When mature, maple fruit (samaras) turn from green to yellow or brown and fall to the ground. Collect mature fruit from the lawn, driveway, or gutters. There is no need to remove the seed from the fruit. The fruit of red (Acer rubrum) and silver maple (Acer saccharinum) mature in late spring or early summer. Neither requires a pregermination treatment and should be planted immediately. The fruit of most maple species mature in the fall. Sow seed directly outdoors in the fall or plant stratified seed in the spring. Seed of the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) should be stratified for 40 to 90 days at 33 to 41 F, while seed of the Norway maple (Acer platanoides) require 90 to 120 days at 41 F. Plant the seed (fruit) 1/4 to 1 inch deep. Either lamps will be fine. Some species seeds germinate better in the dark, others in red light, but I can't find any problems like that on google search. CRI is not relevant for plant growth, I think you seedlings will grow well with either just P&A, or just daylight 6500K, or a combination of both. The general rule with fluorescent lamps is the more lumens the better, and P&A do not have any practical advantage over any other modern high light output lamps. Sativa.

The REL-2P32-SC is an Advance brand ballast. I've used a bunch of them. I'd call them low- to mid-line ballasts, but they work fine. Note that these ballasts do produce a small amount of audible hum. I don't see any flicker, and startup is very fast. The difference between the REL and REB ranges is that the former is a commercial unit and the latter is a residential unit. The REL has a much better power factor and radiates far lower harmonic distortion on the power line. These qualities are more important in commercial applications than in the home, but if the REL doesn't cost much more I'd go for it over the REB. Either ballast should be used only with T8 lamps, but T8s will fit the old lampholders just fine. The lampholders have two pins; just connect them together as the wiring diagram shows. To my eyes 6500K is freezing cold, like an overcast winter's day. I prefer a color temperature of 2700K to 3500K. Regardless of the CT you choose, be sure to get CRI (color rendering index) in the 82 range, not in the 70s. It really makes a difference in the quality of the light.

You can use recessed fluorescent fixtures but don't install incandescent recessed fixtures and put CF lamps in them.

You are considering replacing a fluorescent light that uses about 80 watts and asking whether 300 watts - almost 4 times as much energy usage - will be enough? With electric rates expected to rise rapidly in the future, something is wrong with this picture! In fact getting practical task lighting from "modern" fixtures takes much more energy (recurring cost) and many more fixtures (initial cost), compared to your "outdated" fluorescent. Newer fixtures are almost universally designed to look pretty and be fashionable, not to provide good practical illumination where you need it. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but my recommendation is that if you must replace the existing fixture, replace it with another fluorescent that you like better. Make sure it has an electronic ballast, for efficiency and freedom from any flicker. Much more cost effective is to upgrade your existing light with an electronic ballast and new, high CRI lamps. This will get you significant improvement in the light quality AND efficiency for under $40.