Philips 80W CFL's for seedlings

[greentoe]

Hi everybody,

I plan on starting my first (semi) indoor grow soon but I'll be transferring the plants outdoors after 2-3 months depending on how quickly they grow so I only need the lights for seedlings/young plants and maybe cuttings in the future.
Does anyone have experience using the 80W Philips CFL's (5300 lumens?) for a grow from seed? How many plants per light could I grow in this scenario?

Also from reading I've done the light should be 4 inches away from the growing medium when the germinated seed is planted and 1-2 inches away from the seedling once its developed, is this right?

Sorry if the answer is obvious but I could only find info on mature plants, not seedlings. Any extra advice is very welcome.

Thanks in advance,
Greentoe

[Ozzy420]

The 80w cfl is spot on for what u want.

 

There has been a full grow done with one on the boards.

 

You can keep a cfl close to the plants but it can still burn them if the light touchs or to close, if u keep it about 2 inch above the seedling u shouldent have any probs...

[Faith]

I am with Ozzy on that one greentoe-I bought one of those growlush 130W thingos and while it works, the lamp holder is more for a chinaman sort of shade so it takes up heaps of room and the spread sucks-but it keeps em vegging.  I have since been longin for the Philips reflector/holder like glandore has and a few others. 

good growing to you greentoe

Faith

[greentoe]

Thanks guys, sifting through the diaries now.

I've also seen some 250W'ers on ebay for $99 (won't let me paste the link), the brand is PowerPlant UK and it's apparently rated at 8000 lumens, compared to 5300 from the Philips, how reliable are these CFL's on ebay? would that be overkill for my 2-3 month grow anyway?