you cant grow 15 under cfls bro 16 under a 600w yes that would work great im doin 16fast bud under a 600w hps
You know what I love about the word can't? Any time it is used, it inspires someone to try anyways. In this case, it most certainly CAN be done, it would just be an awful waste of money. The cheapest way would be to go to Home Depot and buy five 68w (300w Replacement) CFLs to flower them with. They are the size of footballs and use a regular socket. But they are $15 a piece, plus you would have to buy sockets and not to mention that the CFLs would not penetrate nearly as far, giving you less bud per plant. You can go with the higher end CFLs (125 true watts or better) but they require different, more expensive sockets, and for the price you could have bought a nice HID with a reflector and remote ballast.
I did flower 2 Diesel Ryders under a single 68w CFL and got just over 7g dry off each. I think I could have ended up with more but I had to keep them in small 6" pots due to height restrictions, and the light schedule was on 12/12 because I had other strains in the cab that were not AF.
And as far as the 600w goes, it would be ideal but I really think you could do 12-16 AF plants SOG style in small (1gal or less) containers under a 400w, maybe even a 250w and get decent results. I have 8 Diesel Ryders and 3 Apollo11 (non AF) under a single 250w right now and they are all looking gorgeous, none of them stretching for light. Now all mine are in 1gal grow bags, and I am not topping or training in any way, otherwise the canopy would be so large I would need two 250w.
I think most people who prefer CFLs have to worry more about heat and thats why they go with CFLs. Well Im here to tell you, 250w of CFLs get hotter than a 250w remote ballast HPS. Each CFL had a ballast between the bulb and socket which produces heat along with the bulb. Watt for watt, a remote ballasted HID bulb will always be cooler than a CFL. What CFLs are damn handy for is supplemental light, or when you are using no more than 150 actual watts. Anything more than 150 actual watts of CFL in one space, and you could probably increase your yield by 25% or more just by switching to a HID bulb of equal wattage.
There's just nothing I hate more than seeing someone spend gobs of money on a zillion CFLs when one HID would do much better, run cooler, and be easier to maintain. I was scared of HID bulbs for a long time, but once you use one you will always have them in your arsenal. Now for veg I ALWAYS use CFLs or fluorescent tubes because you typically dont need hundreds of watts.
Just putting some food for thought out there. All too often I hear people thinking they have to conform to a certain way of doing something because people say it CANT be done. Well many years ago people would have said fluorescent lights CANT grow quality buds, or AF strains CANT produce high potency buds, and we have proven them wrong so why not keep trying?
KB