I tossed the perlite and am going to pick up some soil too, forget hrdro, it's a hassle. I guess I just heard so much about hydro like it was the way to go.
I've read in various grow books that it's not worth going hydro for small grows, that it's more hassle than soil. Sounds like you made a wise choice.
neat grow! Would it be possible to do it without the pot? I think you said the cooler has a spigot, you could fill the bottom with river rock, then soil mix. Grow right in the cooler. Heh cool. Did you get the ventilation sussed out? Keep it going, I wanna see how this turns out!