my goodness the angst, lets all be civil....
CFL's are amazing for growing autoflowers, ill argue that to the death. I have 3 grow tents/boxes two of which are all CFL. If you can get them very close to the plants, use proper reflective material and do at least 100 true watts per plant CFL's work great. With my CFL box i actually get more compact plants than i get with my 400w HPS.
There are several breeders that are producing 12/12 autoflowers. i know this sounds strange but i see a purpose for them. What the specific breeder im thinking of does is start his auto in 12/12 lighting from the beggingin to the end. his first step is removing any autoflowers that do not flower at 12/12 which as far as i know has been a total of zero. these are day neutral. then selective breeding is done generation after generation for the autoflowers that perform best under such wimpy lighting.
20/4 or 24/0 is best for autoflowers however 12/12 is doable if its the only option you have (no room in veg room etc).
My CFL's are about 1" from the plants on the top and sides. its really amazing what how compact you can grow with CFL's. not everyone has the space or money for HID lamps and they are not necessary anyway. there is also the option of using LED's which im hoping to try myself soon.
