Ive done a lot of reading here to prepare for my small first time grow. In regards to lighting, I decided to go floro.

My rationale is that while I understand HPS is superior, it is also more expensive, requires more equipment and produces more heat. For a small first time grow in a small space I want to keep things less costly/hot.

As mentioned, this left me looking at floros for a small grow (3ish plants) in a small space.

From what i understand, minimum lumens are 2-3k for each sq foot. According to this post:

Things to know about lighting

Floros emit 60-70 lumens per watt. It doesn't mention cfl but it seems to be about the same. Is this correct?

When I initially got supplies, I bought two 75 watt 4' floros with bulbs for growing. So if I understand correctly I currently have 10,500 lumens?

At the time I thought this would be superior to building the same lumen count with 6 or so cfl lights, so I didn't even look at them.

However, this post:

CFL vs FLORO vs HPS

makes me think that cfls might be a much better idea.

Can someone explain to me the merits of these small cfl bulbs? Will my results be better with them?

I think one of the major advantages to CFLs is space conservation, you can fit a lot more of them in the same space as a couple of tubes. Also, CFLs can fit into a regular light bulb socket of the kind found in millions of light fixtures around the world...for a cheap ass fixture, just gut a lamp, screw in a "Y" splitter, add two bulbs, rig up a reflector out of something reflective and hang over your plant. As far as actual light production goes, I don't think there is a difference of measurable worth. As far as cost goes, I've seen 150w HPS security lamps going for as cheap as $20 online...all you need is a little bit of wiring and you can have a custom built HPS with remote ballast, reflector hood and cool tube for under $50 depending on the deals you managed to snag on things like a bake-a-round and reflector materials.

I like CFLs, but figure out what works for you and make it happen. I've seen a grow in a computer case with a 70w HPS lamp, so all it takes is a little ingenuity and a willingness to tell yourself you can do it rather than thinking it can never work.

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I went to homedepot and saw a 17" fixture that uses 8 watt 12" florotubes.
Its costs about $20 for the fixture and one bulb.

Do you guys think it would be a good investment for side lighting in my stealth cabinet? The fixture is not that thick, maybe 1" thick so they fit easily inside a stealth cabinet. I already have CFLs at the top and I want to add more side lighting during the Veg state.

Iam doing a scrog setup so during flowering I can move the fixture to the top of my canopy and have the floro fixtures around the side of my canopy. This way my canopy of bud will have CFL lights shining from the top down and floro tubes shining from the side in.

apart from the info you've seen, lumens, space, etc., cfl and cost go well together
my mini grow ran around $50 for just about everything, excluding seeds
and the results are looking real good for somebody that's never done an inside grow