thanks for all the replies, also a friend told me to use bat guano. when should i use this?
so what your saying is use rocks on the bottom instead of mulch, start them off in around 4 inch pots first before transplanting to the buckets, and start the nutes half strength after around 3 weeks? (sounds right but i just want to make sure i dont screw up my first grow by mis-reading anything)
also, when starting out with seedlings, how far away from the soil should i keep the 250w hps?
i really appreciate all the help, thanks guys

Edit: also look for my grow log when i start everything up! (should be after all the supplies are shipped to me, which hopefully is in a week or so)