total lumen sounds enough, but will the light get directed onto the plants? i am wondering if the reflectors on those pole lamps are any good, but it is certainly worth a try, if you don't want to do any drilling etc. - paul m.

Yeah I wasn't sure about reflectors either so I may have to modify them a bit.
I got the idea from an older thread that "jane__ny" posted in, I'll add the link below. It's about the 25th post down. In another thread from '09, she says she uses 40w cfl's in most of her floor lamps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread link

I would still say fabricate a stand out of 2x4 wood, so that you can screw some shoplight fixtures to them. Shoplight gives the best most uniform light. You'll need a saw and some tools, otherwise, do what you suggest and see what happens.

I ended up trying the floor lamp idea. I bought two 5-light stands and bought 6 42w 6500k bulbs and 4 40w 2700k. It's a total of about 25,000 lumens. I spent $125 total on the lights and fixtures. I also put tin foil around the bulb shades to reflect more of the light.

Like I had said, the containers are at different heights so I'm not sure how a light source at one height would have done. We'll see how this goes. It looks extremely bright in the small room but I realize visible light isn't everything.