Your first child is the one that always gets it's head whacked on the door jamb...because you are learning to care for a baby. Gardening works the same way. I wrecked a lot of tomatoes in 30 years. Your first child hates that first haircut, too.
If your holes are in the bottom of your buckets, I would get them up on some little blocks or feet to assist draining, improve airflow underneath and to get them off the floor so they don't sit in the water after they drain. I use little 1" blocks a woodworking neighbor donated to the cause. It will help you collect the water that drains, too.
I was lucky to have found this site when my seedlings were still on the kitchen windowsill, so my mistakes happened earlier...like using Miracle Gro soil...to sprout seedlings, lol. I don't know how it worked, but it did. (I got them out of the MG as soon as I could!) It still might hurt my grow at the end, but I won't do it again.
Good luck! May your topiary come back from the Edward Scissorhands treatment!