Welcome to the world of planted tanks! It's good that you're asking before buying anything. First important factor in a planted tank is lighting. Fluorescent lighting is most typical for planted tanks (compact fluoro included). In lighting there are two important factors:
1) The wattage of your lights. This is usually referred to as Watts Per Gallon (wpg) where you take your total Watts of light and divide it by your tank size in US gallons. Usually the minimum suggested is 2wpg, although there are many plants that will get by (not necesarily flourish) on much less. Medium lighting is generally between 2wpg and 3 or 4wpg, whereas high lighting is 3+wpg.
2) Light spectrum. This is usally referred to as a number such as 6700K. I believe that the ideal spectrum for plants is 5000K to 6500K. If buying lights from the hardware store, look for Daylight spectrum. I'll let other members better explain the spectrum as I am not an expert on that aspect...
Let us know what you have for lighting above your tank, as well as the approximate depth of you substrate. please also include your tank size. This forum, as well as the search function, are excellent paces to get started on the natural aquarium. I started with lots of plastic plants and no real plants. I now have nothing but real plants in my main tanks. Not only are they much nicer and more satisfying to look at, the fish seem more at home in a planted tank and the plants help use up waste's such as nitrates.
Hopefully this helps you a bit. Whatever happens, don't get discouraged from the planted tank. See it through and you will not regret it!
Colin
