If it's good enough to grow aquatic plants it's good enough for terrestrial. Even a foot of water "absorbs" quite a bit of light and my main tank in the living room is an underwater jungle.
Funnily enough I cobbled together a propagator the other day made from a spare 2' tank for my aji and roccoto peppers. I've set it up with two bricks in the bottom, filled to nearly the tops of the bricks (enough to cover the heater and give plenty leeway) and put an internal filter in the water to keep the water circulating, both to ensure even heating and prevent stagnation. The seed tray then sits on the bricks just above the water level.
Achieving 30C water temp gives me 27C soil temp in a standard module tray. I plan to use the lights (18W daylight simulation) when the seeds start sprouting to support the early ones while awaiting the stragglers. I'm also seriously considering using a spare set of 105W total output lights as a late winter/early spring boost for a few plants.
The best thing is to make sure your light bulb is daylight sim i.e. with a colour temperature > 6500K (it should be on the packaging). This gives similar wavelengths to a cloudy day. BEWARE bulbs marked "daylight sim", they charge a packet for the same thing. Look for 6500K. B&Q etc do them relatively cheap or look for a specialist lighting company that generally supplies to trade (e.g. City Electrical Factors and suchlike).
Sorry to be so longwinded but I'm a fairly keen low tech aquatic plant grower so lighting's obviously at the heart of it. Good luck and if you make a paludarium propagator thingwy I'll be so jealous. I'm only allowed one tank for livestock these days.