There is a difference in 26w CFL Bulb Quality.

When I first bought 26w cfls for veg people told me they were all the same and to buy Walmart brand.
1) Their daylight is only 5500k
2) They are big
3) They may produce more heat.

I went to Walmart today and bought GE 26w smart cfls. Yes, they cost a bit more, but
1) they come in 6500k which is way more blue and hard to find locally.
2) They are about 30% smaller in size which is a bonus in my book.
3) I feel they run cooler.

I like these bulbs and think my plants will too. I hope this helps someone in the future.

Here is link to product. They stock in store. http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Energy-Smart-68521-GE-Energy-Smart-CFL-26W-T2-Daylight-3pk/21695144

yes there is a different

odds are the ones u got are 800 lumens instead of 1200...........the light color too 5000k is daylight ..6500k daylight bright

6500k is more along the sun at 11am to 2pm ..........now the 5000k is more along 8am to 11am and 2 pm to about 5 or 6pm

yes it is better but u are going to have a issue of lower lumens ..........for a heathly plant u need a minal of 5000 lumens this is the bare rate anything lower the plant will do nothing

now to get a decent power out of the plant u want to have somewhere in 40000k lumens that will get u a oz per plant from my own work

with a small are like that u will find out what i did as u add more lights to get the lumens the high rate becomes crazy u are looking at a 240cfm fan for a tiny area

look at LED spot light bulbs...........those will get u a good depth into the plant and keep the air cooler then tring to use CFLs .............as for the CFLs shoot for somewhere in the 8000lumen range

http://www.1000bulbs.com/

that site has alot of bulbs and info if u look around there u will get a better understanding of the CFLs LEDs and the rest

With the money you spend on quality CFLs, you can get a HPS or LED