Hello, closet garden on it's own...

Hello, i have a small piece of heaven in my closet and they are in vegetative state, i have a programed light with 16 hours of light and 9 hours of dark and they must be watered by hand, i don't have a pump or something else that can water them regularly...
I have 2 CFL 64w so they don't put off much heat.
The medium is traditional soil from the flower shop,with good drainage and on top of it i put some gravel to keep the soil moist.
There is little airflow....little air exchange happening.
The problem is that i must leave home for about 7 days, the whole household is....what can i do?
Is it ok if i put the pots in a bowl of water,i think this way the bottom will be soaked and they can take the water from there?
I hope somebody can help me with an advice.
I'm waiting for some replays. Thanks a lot!

If I were in your shoes I would make a DIY water pump with a timer. It's not that hard as it sounds and I'm sure there are few pictorials around the internet. Just measure the amount of time required to water your plants with the contraption and set the timer to be on for that amount of time each X days depending on how often you water and you should be OK.