What's the best type of lightbulb used to grow a plant?

Question

ex: incandescent lightbulb (x amount of watts) or plant light bulb or fluorescent lightbulb (x amount of watts).

Answer 1

The best type of light bulb to use is a plant light bulb.

Answer 2

You can buy Natural Daylight bulbs at Lowes.
Natural daylight is good for some plants like Tomatoes, but for others it varies greatly and there is no specific answer to which is best. On the Web sites on gardening for a specific plant one can find the best type of lighting.

Flourescent white light is one of the worst for most plants because it contains the least amount of energy. Natural daylight flourescent lightbulbs are used in vegitable greenhouses that use chemicals to grow tomatoes.

Answer 3

Just the common 4' florescent tube is fine. Hang a 4 tube fixture and keep the plants quite close. It's good for starting seeds and small plants until they can get to some better light. Grow tubes aren't that much better especially when the price is factored in. If you can combine the florescents with natural light, you are way ahead.

If you are planning to grow something you don't want others to see, then there are other web sites for this. It take high power fixtures and the electric company will tip off the cops when your electric bill sky rockets.