I’m pretty much ready to start. So far I have a 2x2x4 ft high grow tent, an Optic 1 54 watt light and a duct fan and filter (on order). How many autoflowering plants should I start with in this small tent and which strain would be best for a beginner? I’m really looking for help with both insomnia and glaucoma. Thanks!
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suggest you make use of the specific selection app on this site.
plug in your needs: insomnia glaucoma…along with height desired and grow time.
You should find a good selection to choose from
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In a small tent, (2x2x4) you can fit one auto comfortably. Blueberry auto is a great strain for beginners and is a good producer with a solid high, taste and smell 
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Thanks a lot! Will take some pics if there’s anything to see. Since there will be only 1 plant, a 3 gallon container would b3 best?
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3 gallon would be fine for an auto but if you are only going with 1 plant I’d probably use a 5 gallon.
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Maybe a silly question, but is tap water safe for my first grow? This may be answered with my seed packet with auto blueberry, but it can’t hurt to ask.
Best to use clean water. add your nutes then adjust PH…
you will not have a lot of vertical space after putting a 5 gallon bucket and hanging light …
be sure to choose short plant and LST to keep it manageable.
It depends on what the ppm of your tap water is. You’re also going to want to let tap water sit out with the lid off to release the choline from the water for 24-48 hours before using it on your plants too
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I have a 2x2x4 tent, I have 1 plant in there under 2 lights one is 1200w (300w Actual) and other is 300w (60w Actual). Let me help try to explain light a little and I’m sure one of the pro’s can jump in and help as well. But what you need to strive for with light is 50watts (Actual Power) per sq ft.
So, 2x2 = 4 sq feet x 50w = 200w of light needed for your tent grow, in order to make decent buds. SO your 1 54 watt light is going to be way to little for what you would like to do I’m afraid.
I would also say that the Blueberry auto would be best it’s a smaller plant , I have a bigger plant type and it’s been real tough to keep it from growing to high!! As someone else said you will need to read up on (LST) Low Stress Training. Fix the light problem and I think your ready to rock.
Oh boy. Somewhere I read that the Optic1 was good on a 1 light per 1 plant basis. Or maybe it was on YouTube?? Anyway, thought I got a good deal on black Friday for the one light @ $120 but now this. Maybe put the O1 in the center with some CHEAP Chinese lights on the perimeter? Haven’t started my seed yet - glad I waited.
And that could be true about the Optic 1 , I don’t know, I know the 50watt rule of thumb is true. But I have no experience with the Optic 1 
I remember what I saw. It was a guy on YouTube who said the 54 watt Optic 1 could veg a 3x3 foot tent and flower a 2x2 tent. I must have misunderstood.
Do you think that I need 3 more of these Optic 1 54 watt lights? Ouch!
I wouldn’t expect that to be true. Even with the top bin cobs you’d want probably 5-6 50 watt cobs to flower a 3x3. With those I would suspect at least 6.
So I’m looking at adding four 100 watt led grow bulbs (Miya) spaced at 6" in from each corner of the 2x2 tent. With the e26 sockets the additional cost would come to maybe $120 US. Each one of those 4 bulbs has about 150 leds. Combined with the Optic 1 (54 watt) in the center, do you think that might do it? The alternative, buying 3 more Optic 1’s, would cost maybe $400 US.
6 each 50 watt cobs for 9 square feet, or 300 watts for 9sf which converts to 33 watts per sf or 132 watts for a 2x2 tent. Drop the 50 watts for the Optic 1 and I need 80 more actual (real) watts divided by 4 lights of 20 watts per light to use all 5 lights in the X pattern with the Optic 1 in the center of the cross-hair.
Does that make sense or have I screwed up the math? So should I be using 50 or 100 watt grow bulbs for the cheap lights?
Hey Jim,
You might want to look at this site, Going with HLG lighting will save a lot of headaches, tells you exactly what each light will cover and they have a very low profile. Having big Cob lights in a 2x2x4 tent will decrease your growing room big time, after you consider your growing container size then the lights hanging down. I would urge you to look at the HLG 100 or 300.