edith

Hi there! Im new to the world of cultivation and ive read this forum quite a bit, but i remain confused as to the issues surrounding what seems to be a crucial question...HID vs Flo.

A tired question you may think, but my recent discovery of (cheap and bright) compact flo's has left me more than a little confused. The general consensus of opinion seems to be that HID lights are far superior to compact flo's, and that the latter should not be used for flowering because they dont produce 'nearly enough light'. But check the math....

A 20w CFL (from UK hardware store) produces 2000 lmns of light...so thats 100lmns per watt.

A 400w HPS (from net) produces 45k lmns of light....so thats 112.5 lmns per watt.

Brighter, but not by much. Why then, are HID lights considered to be so much better than compact's for flowering, bearing in mind compacts come in different spectrums? Surely the financially restricted grower (thats me) would not be much worse off using compacts form start to finish?

Correct me if im wrong..........