fluorescent light?

yep..

i do the same thing, i have some tube lights 35 watts.. just put the seedlings really close to the light, its ok they wont burn. check them out here some pics http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...illi-like.html

mine are the 5ft type that i bought including ballast and tube lights 35watts for 18 gbp, i bought these a couple of seasons ago and when i dont have seedlings under them they double as house lighting

Plants have more than one biochemical pathway by which they may photosynthesise (3 if I remember correctly), different plants will need different wavelengths for optimum growth, or failing that a higher temperature. (This is why plants simply don't grow below certain temperatures; for each plant that temperature is decided by how it photosynthesises, assuming it has all the nutrients.) So how well a normal fluorescent light works will depend on what you are growing. Ideally a full spectrum growing light is the thing, but to a lot of plants, bright white light is just fine thank you. It may make them a bit more leggy though.
Be warned, full spectrum growing lights might have an unexpected side-effect...on you ! At this time of year, a blast of powerful UV enhanced light, full spectrum like sunlight, will reset some people's body clocks, telling their body it is dawn, and thus programming their brain to want sleep later on in the day. If you are one of these susceptible persons, more than half an hour close up, and you are likely to be irritable then incredibly sleepy due to a sudden overdose of serotonin. I use a full spectrum lightbox for Seasonal Affective Disorder, and it is quite noticeable - when some people come into the room where it is, they immediately really dislike it and can be quite aggressive about it. But for most folk, as long as you are a few feet away it won't make much odds - you need to be close up for a while.
Mm, I have just had this sudden image of lots of really aggressive waccy baccy growers toiling in those illegal cannabis farm houses...!

What about 'daylight' bulbs as sold in Focus and other stores? I used to have one of these directed at a houseplant that stood in a dark corner and it seemed to work - either that or the plant didn't really mind the gloom.

All full spectrum lights whether bulbs or tubes are "daylight" - they show true colours as seen outdoors - but the Ultraviolet is also there, just as in real sunshine. But most daylight bulbs are made to show art or craftwork in natural colours, without having the added UV, so probably it was helping your plant a bit, but not nearly as much as a full spectrum light would. Being a lightbulb, the heat was probably half the help !
Most houseplants are houseplants because they do cope well with low levels of UV anyway; window glass cuts out most if not all UV. You can't get a tan sitting on a windowsill...

Thanks for that Snohare. Might try the facial tanning lamp I have then instead (bought for son's and their teenage skin not for me to get tanned)

Still might not be the right wavelengths, I can't remember but there's UVA, AVB, and I think UVC, plants might want in between - but it certainly won't harm, you never know you might get bronze foliage !