i was looking at cfl's and noticed different cri color rendering index i think
i see alot of 85 and what not but i found a buld that has a 6700k and a cri of 98 just wondering how important cri is and realy whats it for

color rendering index (cri ), Is really only usefull for people. It is how accurately the bulbs show color from the objects the light hits.

Daylight cri 100.

The higher the number the closer the colors appear to a natural sunlight condition.

Plants, however don't have eyes and the don't care what the light looks like as long as the correct wavelengths are there, cri is not important for them.

your plants will look nicer to you tho... with a higher cri!

cool i guess thats not a bad thing then as long as its producing the right color temp and such what do you think of these for veg the 2.0 version

Exo Terra : Products : Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

they should work just fine, i would save the money and go get a 6500k or 6400k daylight bulb at walmart or wherever, i imagine those reptile lights are expensive.
If you have some, use them and let us know They look like they have a pretty good intensity in the red spectrum area too as well as blue and some uv. But for veggin i see no problems with them. except maybe cost.

ive got a 2.0 and a 10.0 the 10.0 is a bit scarey in the uvb spectrum ill try the 2.0 on my seedlings and see what happens

You should avoid buying tubes if they do not have a CRI rating of at least 80%, as they may be cheap tubes intended for office buildings. These only use a single phosphor that leaves large gaps in the spectrum of light. They have a CRI as low as 50%, which tends to give people's skin a sickly look, and colors just don't look right. These give energy saver bulbs don't normally have a bad name, but are greatly out-performed by modern, fluorescents with a high CRI.

__________________
R.C.C (Rollitup CFL Crew) - Lieutenant General
http://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/...lant-cfls.html Feminized PPP

good point chronic, A higher cri and a newer bulb has a better spectrum spread generally.

High pressure sodium bulbs range from cri 22-35 or so (i think) and they seem to work just fine for flowering.

That's because hps lights emit thousands of more lumens than cfl's.

__________________
R.C.C (Rollitup CFL Crew) - Lieutenant General
http://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/...lant-cfls.html Feminized PPP

moreover hps has the correct spectrum for flowering, the point is cri does not matter to the plant.