There are number of grow lights used for growing plants. Before you use any grow lights for your plants you need to know the fundamentals of light, color and lighting systems.

Incandescent lighting is very cheap and low quality light. The output spectrum of incandescent light, halogen or regular, is biased heavily toward the red. The great disadvantage to incandescent lights is their inefficiency - you don't get a lot of light compared with how much energy you put apply. Halogen bulbs are more efficient than "regular" incandescent bulbs by virtue of remaining brighter longer; they still give off 95% of their initial light output at the end of their lives, which are about twice as long as regular incandescent bulbs. They are also more expensive.

Fluorescent bulbs are cheaper to run and more expensive to install. There are many different types of fluorescent tubes. They differ in the physical size, composition of the phosphor and the wattage. When fluorescent tube is mentioned, the standard T12 four foot tubes usually comes to mind. This tube has a diameter of 1.5 inches and is available in 18", 24" 36", 48", 72" and 96" lengths. T12 tubes are available in HO (High Output) or VHO (Very High Output) which draw more and much more current respectively, but produce more light than regular T12 tubes. T12 tubes are also available in U-shaped, that is a four foot tube is bent back on itself so it forms a large U, and is about 24" long. The T8 or "slimline" fluorescent has a 1" diameter tube and is available in 24", 36" and 48" lengths. Circular tubes are available with several different radii, and in several different types. In the last few years, compact fluorescent tubes have become very popular mostly as replacements for incandescent bulbs. These tubes come in all sizes, from a 3" 5 watt bulb to much larger bulbs that replace 40W four foot tubes, yet are just one third of the size.

HID or High Intensity Discharge are the big bright lamps you see in grocery stores, street lighting and industrial lighting. They can be very large and draw a lot of power. Indeed 2000 watt and 6000 watt lamps exist, however small ones, down to 70 watts are available.

Fluorescent lights are the most economical way of lighting your plants in the long run. Once the initial purchase of the fixture is made the low cost of operation and long life of the tubes makes fluorescent light very attractive. For a beginner that has an incandescent fixture the new compact fluorescent bulbs with integrated ballasts will, in many cases, screw right into the existing socket. Bulbs for these are available from 2700K to 5000K color temperatures, although as of this writing only Osram makes 5000K compact fluorescent.

The absolute cheapest setup is to buy whatever fluorescent tubes are on sale at the local hardware store. Usually cool white. This is far from the best, but it will work. One cool white and one warm white is a little better, although one plant growth light and one daylight bulb is still a fairly cheap setup, (both are well under $10) with quite good light quality.