What is the best indoor light setup for vegetable growing?

The best plants to grow indoors under ligths are greens. They require only basic daylight white bulbs. Fruiting plants such as tomato, pepper and cucumber required special, warmer spectrum, high-outptut lights that stimulate flowering.

I use indoor grow lights from Hydrofarm available from Amazon for $59. The containers are Growums SIPs.

The best lights are high-output dailight white at 6500K. Hydrofarm JumpStart 4 feet system has 50W, 6500 K T-5 bulb.

Menards have a good deal on 46" T5 28 Watt, 6500K ligths with 2 Pack for $13.59. However, the power is only 28W as compared to 50W in Hydrofarm JumpStart.

ViaVolt 4 ft. T5 865 ($10.97 at HomeDepot) is comparable to the Hydrofarm JumpStart bulb (http://bit.ly/PZkJfZ).

Standard shop lights (T-12 and T-8) are the least expensive option but they are bulky and use more electricity than T5. Beware that inexpensive lights tend to be the most expensive to operate and the least effective.

High Output (HO) T-5 fluorescents produce about twice as much light as standard fluorescents and use less power.
Compact fluorescents (CFLs) are another option. The CFLs by the Feliz brand are higly rate (http://www.amazon.com/Feliz-Watt-Light-6500K-Socket/dp/B003FL3D4G).

The lights must be on for 12-16 hours every day. I typically switch them on immediately after I come home from work in the evening and switch them off just before I leave for work in the morning.

AeroGarden is a simple aeroponics system with CFLs. There is no soil, potting mix or hydroponics. However, the container size is small and the system is relatively expensive at $140.

LED lights are the most advanced option but they are expensive.



CFL and Florescent Lights - Growing Indoors Cheap, Easy and Effective - from Alberta Urban Garden:

References:

Setup Indoor Grow Lights and Grow Winter Vegetables http://bit.ly/PZi2Ll
How To Plant Vegetables Indoors http://bit.ly/PZiZTS
Gardening Under Lights, Grow Lights, Grow Light, Shop Lights: Gardener's Supply http://bit.ly/PZjkpF
Growing Vegetables Indoors | The Gateway Gardener http://bit.ly/PZjw8r
Growing Indoor Plants with Success | CAES Publications | UGA http://bit.ly/PZk8L4
Grow light - Wikipedia http://bit.ly/PZkd1i
How to Select the Best Indoor Grow Lights for Vegetables | Urban Organic Gardener http://bit.ly/PZktxi