metal halide bulb

okay so i can't find any good cfl bulbs in my town, so i figured i would change to mh bulbs. A few questions on them though; what wattage should i obtain for around a 2x2 grow area? do they fit in almost any light socket? (lol can i take out my clf bulbs and just put in the mh's?), and how do i tell if they are in the 5500k to 6500k range?

MH bulbs require a ballast,

they dont just screw in like a normal light bulb, they need a ballast and a holder,


street lights are a good exapmle

some street lights are mh

some are hps


as for the colour temp, either itl asy it on the box or be printed on the bulb