Thanks all! I've been looking online at eBay and Amazon trying to decide what to get and reading up on what works what doesn't, so much info. I'm literally just trying to light up a few plants in my windowsill (10ft windows, but not convinced enough light is getting through---especially for my citruses). Maybe 2'x8" worth of area total that I want to add lights to. I think these http://www.homedepot.com/p/EcoSmart-60W-Equivalent-Daylight-5000K-Twister-CFL-Light-Bulb-4-Pack-ES5M814450K/100687001 and the 100 watts from the same brand are what we use for regular lighting in our apt right now. The Hydro CFL bulb I have on a couple plants does seem to be working, after I moved my citruses to another window they all started wilting so I think the light did have some benefit. This is the bulb I currently have: http://www.amazon.com/Hydroponic-Full-Spectrum-Light-5500K/dp/B005P29K1S/ref=sr_1_21?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1400759384&sr=1-21&keywords=t5+grow+lights This post was edited by nmr82 on Thu, May 22, 14 at 7:50

There are several kinds of lights that can effectively be used for plant growth. Metal Halide (MH), High Pressure Sodium (HPS) and High Intensity Discharge (HID) are the types most commonly used in commercial growing. These lights provide extremely bright light up to 120,000 lumens over a wide area of approximately 4x4 feet (about 7500 lumen/ft) and are a reasonable substitute for direct sunlight. However, these lights generate tremendous amounts of heat and generally run at 400-1000W. Home growers looking for supplementary lighting have traditionally used fluorescent bulbs. There are 3 main types of fluorescent tubes named based on the diameter of the tube. T12: These are the oldest and cheapest fluorescent tubes with a diameter of 1.5 inches. A single 4 foot long T12 running at 40W will generate about up to 1980-3300 lumens (depending on bulb specifications) over the 1x4 foot area underneath (max 825 lumen/ft). This type of setup is very effective and very affordable but T12 bulbs are being phased out in favour of much more efficient T8 and T5 tubes. T8: 1 inch diameter. A single 4 foot T8 runs at 32W and can generate 2850-3400 lumens. T5: 5/8 inch diameter. These are the newest, brightest and most efficient fluorescents avaiable, and therefore also the most expensive. T5s are split into 3 types, High output (HO) Normal Output, and High Efficiency (HE). For the purpose of growing plants, you will be looking for HO bulbs. 4 foot T5HOs run at 54W and generate 5000 lumens. A fixture of 4 T5s will generate 20000 lumens over 1x4 feet (5000 lumen/ft) when coupled with reflectors, which will be effective for growing most plants indoors. CFL: Compact fluorescent lights are bright and can be used to grow plants when space is an issue. As you know, another option is to use LED grow lights. LEDs tend to be very expensive and the benefits over HID, MH or Fluorescent lights tend to be overstated by the merchant. Also unlike the other bulbs, LEDs do not generate light over a wide spectrum, rather they generate narrow bands of red (650-660nm) and blue (460-465nm) that roughly mimic the peak absorbance of chlorophyll (430nm and 642nm). While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it does mean that your plants will be under purplish light for 12-16 hours a day and won't look very attractive. I currently use 4 3-foot T8 bulbs (about 2900 lumen/foot) with a timer set to stay on for 16 hours a day. I'm also moving in September and will be looking to upgrade to a fixture of T5HOs, which is also what I'd recommend for you. I've just given you a quick overview but there's much more information on the "Growing under lights" forum. If you decide to get fluorescent fixtures, businesslights.com is a great supplier and offers full fixtures with bulbs included.

Yes, the grow lights are different. Even though they have some of the same wavelengths/spectrums of light as natural light, its almost impossible to equate anything other than metal halides or VHO's with something approaching real sunlight. The normal strength grow lights and flourescents just can't pack the same photon punch as sunlight, even weak, screened or dappled light, which is why you need to put the bulbs so close to the plants. The Coral Life bulbs come in reflectorized and non-reflectorized to send down as much light as you want, but even those never burned anything I had. I have a 50 gallon terrarium that I was using metal halides in, and they were so powerful I had to make a "light" are and a "dark" area inside by using just one bulb instead of 2. The overshine from that one bulb was bright enough to kill the Dendrobium lodegessii cuttings I put in there with too much heat, but I have an Angraecum distichum that loved it and bloomed its head off and added 2 new leads. I took the metal halides off though and got regular aquarium hoods with flourescents, because with the halides, and theym generating HEAT that flourescents don't, and I had to elevate the hood 6" on blocks over the terrarium, so the humidity was poor. It didn't matter for a while, but now I am thinking of getting into dendrobates (poison dart frogs) and they need it humid and cooler, and the system needs to be CLOSED so they can't escape. If you are at all able, you could put your plants outdoors for the summer in dappled light in NC and they would probably like that very much. Where in Florida were you living?

If you are in an area served by Southern California Edison they are subsidizing the cost of various kinds of fluorescent light fixtures and CFL bulbs. Ganahl lumber in Buena Park had the 4 foot single tube light fixtures on sale today for $1.99 and they will take either a T8 or T12 bulb. One trouble is they don't come with a power cord and a power cord at home depot will cost you between $6 and $8, which is more than the light fixture. I found a place online that had a closeout on 6 foot power cords for $1.59 each, but I had to pay $11 for shipping. I am building a 12 tube seed starting setup. If you have some old electronic equipment you could salvage the cords off them, or cut up an old extention cord. But the cord must be the grounded 3 conductor type as the fixture has to be grounded to light up properly. They also had 23 watt CFLs for 25 cents each, limit 14 per family.