Ah-ha. Now realizing how naive that remark about CFLs sounds.
If you're going to do it, do it right? HPS lights are the way to go, which I now realize after looking through a bunch of growing journals.
Now I'm looking for the best light that I can get, at the best price, of course, and my question has now evolved into this: Given that HPS is the obvious winner in lighting for the flowering stage, are CFLs okay for vegging, or should I just go for the big bucks (as in electric bill) from the beginning? And IF it's a decent enough choice to use CFLs for vegging, then how on earth was that set up by Firebrander made?
And if this sounds really dumb? Please excuse me. I'm new to all of this. (Also extending my apologies if my posts here are considered highjacking a thread. It's sometimes hard to tell what sort of online etiquette is okay, and which is considered rude.)