Since the Plant FAQ covers things in general, I am going to talk primarily about standard output four bulb electronic ballasts and energy efficient T8 four foot 5000K bulbs, since that is what I used. The only economic bulb length is really 4 ft, most of the others are more expensive. There are also other considerations such as color temperature and CRI for your situation. There are any number of reasons to go with a common type of bulb, but the biggest ones are cost and availability. Since the goverment passed the Energy Policy Act which mandated that starting in April 1994 many common bulb types could not be manufactured or imported into the US, the major manufacturers have all been pushing energy efficient T8 bulbs.
Every bulb has generic type code and one specific to a manufacturer.
If a length is not specified, most often it means 4' lamps. I don't know much about the pin configuration code other than the standard medium two pin T12 and T8 bulb is called G13. Every manufacturer has their own way of describing bulbs but it generally includes F32T8 and a model and color number. Many of the plants have gotten a red pigmentation to protect themselves from light. I think I could have gotten by with less light.