Fluorescen lights

[AnotherAnimal]

To grow with fluorescent lights, can you use any type of fluorescent light bulb or does it have to be the specific "plant growing" type?

[Stock Market Anomalies]

I'm 99% sure any flouros would work, ones designed for plant growing would be probably be more effective I'm sure.

[Fighter Of The Night Man]

You need to consider spectrum, and mix and match lights to get desirable wavelengths.

Cool white or Daylight fluoros are better for vegitative stage as teh blue light makes them grow shorter and bushier with more nodes. This would be in teh 6500K color temperature. Warm white or the redder fluoros are better for flowering because they help promoting bud growth. This would be a 3500K color redder light optimal for the second stage of growth.

HID is best and most efficient though, allowing up to 1g of yield per watt with perfect technique and CO2. You should be using blue MH light for veg and changing to a red HPS for flower. To get this effect with multiple CFLs you should use two blue per one red CFL for vegetative stage and changing to two red color temperature CFL's with one blue for flower to keep the growth in check. T12 is the newest skinniest tube standard and is the most expensive, T8 is the common everyday tube lights and CFLs are probably the most versatile and do not contain a removable ballast AFAIK :)