The buckets drain..but i feel like it takes alot of water to get them to? I have 6 cfl's on them right now...i wasnt sure about what to use for flowering yet. I want something that will work but not to expensive, if you have any suggestions on a good light im open to hear them lol u guys are aewsome
As long as they drain they should be fine. My concern is you'll probably have salt built up in your grow medium before those plants develop roots that reach to the bottom. The problem - if you just water a little into a large pot and the water doesn't RUN out the bottom Salts will build up fast because they aren't being flooded out of the soil. But with a pot that big and the size of those plants, once you saturate the soil you probably won't have to water them for 4-5 days(or more), let the soil get fairly dry before watering again.
As for cheap lights sound's like you want a T5 4ft 8 bulb fixture, 300 dollars for the fixture, blue bulbs (veg growth) are 11$ a piece, red bulbs (flowering growth) are 13$ ea. should grow 1-3 plants but yield will be low to mid. If you want killer budz you gotta" Pay to Play" , or grow outside. I know you can probably find a hood, bulb, and ballast for a lower wattage HPS for around the price of the T5 setup.
Good luck