Lights for a noobie

[Jupe]

nice clean setup...I would  put some whitecardboard or paper  down...get that light bouncing back up....plants LOVE that reflected light

[bifster]

I had a regular medium sized cfl in a desklamp shining on my salvia, and then switched it out for a floodlight.  Is the floodlight better, or is it pointless?  My plant sits on a windowsill so she gets plenty of indirect sunlight, but I like to give her some extra light, especially when the sun's going down at night.  :]

[Arcygenical]

Floodlights are horribly inefficient, and will probably burn your plant over time... They're around 5% efficient, which, a 120w bulb @ 5% = 6w of light and 114w of heat, in about 1 cubic centimeter of filament (very hot)... A CFL will be around 15% efficient, so a 48w bulb will put out 7w of light, and only 41w of heat, along about 10" of coiled tube...

Much better solution to go with the CFL.