i bought 2 daylight cfl bulbs then the next day i bought 2 cheap regular cfls that let off a more yellow light but put out 1600 lumens. is that comparable to the 1600 lumens of the daylight bulb, would i be better off getting 2 more day light cfls? should i spend an extra few bucks on the full spectrum cfls? heres what im lookin at- cheap cfl- daylight cfl- full spectrum cfl-
depends on what your doing with them. generally you want daylight for veg. growth, and soft white (yellow/red spectrum) for flowering.
That's definitely true, but it is still possible to veg with the soft white (2700k) bulbs. You're growth might not be quite as good as with the daylight bulbs, but it won't be too bad.
a balanced spectrum is never a bad thing. there are 2 things i've noticed with soft white cfl's. they are run hotter, and the plants tend to stretch for it more so than to daylight (5000k) bulbs. i've also noticed new growth turning a slight purple on the sides of the 2700k bulbs but not on the side that gets hit with the 5000k spectrum. i can't really comment from experience on full spectrum bulbs but hell, the more light you have the better your results will be.
This is my understanding as well. I have also been told that a full spectrum is much more beneficial come flower time, more so than veg