so im about to head out and looks for some CFLs to use for my seeds which i just planted after germinating. is home depot gonna have 6500k and 2700k on the boxes or what should i look for? "natural light bulb" or something. i just dont wanna buy the wrong bulbs. for the veg stage should i use a mix of 6500k and 2700k or should only use 6500k?
The 6500K will be "Day light" (usually a blue box in my HD) and the 2700K I believe will be "soft white" and in green packaging.
It is important, but not critical. You can grow with the wrong spectrum and everything will still turn out just fine. The reason you use the different spectrum is to optimize the grow. It should be shown on the box. If it isn't, just look for 'day light' or 'soft white'. Good luck.
Two points of clarification: The color temperature on CFL packaging is NOT the spectral output of the lights. The spectrum of the light IS critical for healthy plants. Chlorophyll production occurs in a fairly narrow part of the visible light spectrum Chlorophyll a 410 - 430 nm = blue 662 nm = red Chlorophyll b 453 nm = blue 642 nm = red
look for the contractor's packs of CFL's you can save alota money on lights that way.........30$ for 10 and always save your recipts for the lights so you can return them if they break or you drop them...