Obviously metal halide and hps are better than fluros, due to the higher yeild you recieve, the thing im wondering is, is it just because the hps/mh lights are more intense, if that was true, couldnt you pack tons of fluros on a single plant and get the same results
I think you answered your own question. T-12 flouros if used properly will give you very good yields. I have tested this out numerous times and find very insignificant differences in yields. W/ flouros if you cannot afford the T-5 HO's, and have to go w/ T-12's, you need to build a bank for the lights so they are closer together. I had 2 areas, both 4 ft wide by 2.5 ft deep. I used a 250 MH for veg and a 300 HPS for flowering. In the flouro room, I used 14 tubes of T-12 flouros, using the blues for veg and switching them out for reds during flowering. Findings: The yield only varied by a few gms, give or take 15-20 gms. The differences were pro & con for both. The HID room the plants seemed to stretch more b/c the lights had to be kept farther away due to heat, with the floruos, the plants were more dense and stocky. With the HIDs the lower areas of the plants seemed to flower out better than w/ the flouros, but one thing was I felt the trichome production was thicker w/ the flouros. IMHO, as long as you are giving the correct amount of light per sq ft, have a good soil mix, use the nutes and water properly along w/ balanced PH, the results do not really make much difference. Some may consider 15-20 gm a huge difference, however when you consider that 28 flouro tubes cost me about $100 and the ballast & wiring about another $50, and the 2 HID bulbs cost me $140, plus another $120 for the ballast and another $75 for the hood, I think the cost to yield ratio was insginificant. less