Your everyday cheap lamps. Would they work?
I’m not sure, but I don’t see why not.
They make special fluorescent grow lights, my grandma has one in her basement.
I’ve had good results with the shop lights with no special bulbs.
Sure, fluorescent tubes are still very common in growth chambers. You just need to use enough of them. This GROW LIGHTS FAQ has some useful information on the various types of light you can use with plants:
The Faq was published before the advent of compact fluorescents, but I’ve had good luck starting my tomato, pepper etc. seeds indoors under a combination compact fluorescent/high pressure sodium light system.
If you really want to mimic the sun, and get both a plant’s photosystems cranking, you need to supplement the blue rich light of fluorescents with a red rich source such as a sodium lamp, or even incandescents. Here’s a nice discussion of Light and Plants. Photosystem II is responsible for absorption near the red end of the response spectrum.
Absolutely! The trick is to keep them very close to the tops of the plants. I used cheap shop light fixutres (probably similar to what Harmonious Discord used or uses) for raising seedlings, so I had them suspended from chains. That way I could adjust the height as the seedlings got taller.
Fluorescent grow-lights? Sure, how do you think indoor pot growers do it?
(Not that I would know anything about that.)
25 years ago when I experimented (unsuccessfully) with this idea, I purchased a book on this topic. IIRC, they said not to use regular fluorescent lights because they emitted too much of the wrong kind of UV light. The result of the wrong UV was supposed to be a tall spindly plant instead of a bushy one. I don’t know if this was true for all types of plants or just the “medicinal” variety.
Thank Og my glaucoma cleared up.
I had a bit of luck. I had an old 18" fixture, and it has a Sylvania Gro-Lux bulb already in it! So I need to rig up a frame and suspension system and I’m all set. Should I worry about whether I’m getting enough light on my tomato seedlings?
Thanks for the advice.
Tomato seedlings that get too little light will become spindly.
And you know, she might actually have glaucoma.
Standard fluorescents emit the wrong spectrum for most plants, hence grow-lights,which emit the spectrum plants like.
Incandescents are closer to sunlight, but generate more heat and cost more to run than fluorescents.
There are also super high output grow-lights that are even more efficient. Take it from me, they work very well (no, I don’t have any in my basement at present).
People can quit making this complicated . The standard fluorescent bulbs work fine for growing plants, which is what was asked about. A shop light with the standard included bulbs works great for seedlings. I’ve used different light set ups for decades , and almost anything producing strong light will work. I would have to say a tanning lamp or heat lamp is about the only lamp that will not work. You can put a shiny surface around the sides of the growing area, to reflect light back. It will help increase the light the plants get. I use mirror tiles in the basement window wells to increase the light plants get. I don’t have to supplement them with lights. Something cheaper like aluminum foil over cardboard will help, but not as much as a mirror.
The intensity falls off quite a bit with the distance from the tube, so keep the fixture close, but not touching. Fluorescent tubes run fairly cool, but warm enough to make a leaf go brown, if touched. There is also a difference in light intensity along the length of the bulb. You get the most in the middle, then a bell curve reduction, then about a 5 inch lump of brightness at each end.
So, will a cheapo shop light do the job? Yes and no. If cheapness is the over-arching priority, you can get by with 2 tubes. Spend more money, get better results, in this order, roughly.
Double up. 4 tubes are much better than 2.
Upgrade to “sunlight” bulbs, the same color as noonday sun.
Upgrade to grow-lights, very spendy. Seen from next door, it’s an odd pinky-purply glow. Your neighbors will think you’re either a very serious gardener or a pot grower.
ETA: The cause of tall, spindly plants is usually not enough light, rather than the wrong color light.
The amount of light needed varies by species, so check.
That said, I grow all my collection of African Violets and tropical house plants under fluorescent lights. The lights are fixed to wire shelving units with plastic trays on the shelves.
I use fixures with spaces for 2 bulbs, and I put in one cool and one warm fluorescent. This gives a wider spectrum without being so expensive as the “grow lights”. The lights are placed 8-10" from the tops of the plants for African Violets, about 12" above for my tropical foliage plants. The plants do not get spindly.
If they do, move the lights closer. If the plants seem to be growing tight and compact, move the lights farther away.
I don’t think you should smoke tomatoe plants. 
LEDs can work too, apparently. I ran across a project here for a homebrew low-power light for a very small area. It would be expensive to set up, but save quite a bit of power compared to fluorescents.