Indoor noob needs some tips on setting up a grow 'cabinet'

I've got a 2' deep, 5' wide closet with about 5 1/2' from floor to shelf. I figure I could set up three 5gal hempy buckets with some wiggle room. Could this space work?
I originally figured I would rig clusters of CFL bulbs to the underside of the shelf, but buying the amount of CFL's I would need + spares is out of my budget range. I found a nice T8 fixture that fits the dimensions of the closet perfectly for $15. The 2 packs of fluorescent tubes were $10, so I'm leaning toward that option seeing as how I could add links to the chain suspending the fixture to accommodate the height of my plants. Does that sound good, or is there a better alternative?
As I haven't gotten seeds yet, I'm thinking auto strains would be a good fit for the dimensions of the closet. Opinions?
Also, about parallel to the shelf there is a wooden bar that runs end to end, which I figure I could clamp fans to for ventilation. I've got an approximately 12" fan already, and I plan on buying a few desk fans to attach to the bar. The closet has 2 sliding doors which I could crack open according to the direction of the fans to suck in fresh air and blow out the hot air. Would that be sufficient ventilation?
Though I haven't committed to setting up the cabinet, I went ahead and bought a pair of thermostats for monitoring temperature, a timer, extension cord, and power strip. Other than a pH testing/adjustment kit, buckets and growing medium, nutes, lighting, and of course seeds, what am I missing?
Answers and additional tips/advice are appreciated.

space is nice .. could easily grow 4 nice small Auto`s under some tubes ..

did you already get the T8 ? if not see if you can get T5HO if not the HO type (high output) then go for the T8 but in 58W

tube`s are great .. provide nice par light for the plant and plenty of Lumens if you get high watt ..

but penetration is ther big down side .. dont provide much light after 10" distance .. so keep the plant low and wide ..
so I would maybe also choose autos or atlest LST/TOP/FIM the hell out of em ..


you schould go for bulbs in 2700K/5000K/6500K (Kelvin the color of the light .. low kelvin (2000-3000) is mostly red/yellow and is what the plant use most of in flowering .. 4000-5000 is a mix .. but mostly yellow (many Ppl. on low budgets use only 5000K) and +6000K keep mostly blue color light spectrum .. and is great for Veg ..


about ventilation .. with tubes you don't need hugh systems like with big HPS or MH lights who get VERY hot (tho them light will also provide much better smoke and much more .. but also cost a lot more to run and need that ventilation system .. sumthing for later maybe)

so heat is not the big problem (unless you live in a part of the world wher it get realy hot but then I reccon you have a AC ?)

but you will still need to provide the plants with fresh air/co2 .. beside the air circulation your fans will provide .. maybe get a small 4"
Axial


or a cheap bathroom vent from "walmart"




to pull hot air out the top of your closed .. and then just some holes in the bottom ..

No, that will not be sufficient ventillation for the lighting required for that space. If you want to rely on air circulating in the same room only, you need to run a much smaller setup. Think about building a stealth cab out of MDF board into one end of the closet, 2' wide by 18" deep or so (turned sideways in your closet) and 5 1/2 feet tall. If only running a few CFL's or at most a 150w HPS, venting up into the top of the closet and intaking at the bottom can be sufficient. Yes it's small but that is the best way to start and learn and you can give the most attention to detail.

If you want to light the entire closet you will need to exhaust out of the room, which means cutting a hole in your wall or ceiling or running duct to your air return.