Hello TimeWasteing,
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1. I've read red/blue is the better wavelengths to get but would it hurt to mix in other wavelengths? let's say I want to add 30-45/1w~ white led's.
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Red and blue are the dominate color spectrum's. But there many wavelengths within any color. Also not just any LED works fine. You need to use high output LED's, and I'm not sure about the circuit board (chip). Also you will need to use a "LOT" of led's to grow plants that grow more than 6-10 inches tall.
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2. what len degree should i use? being in a small enclosed box could I just go with no len's?
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A len's focuses the light into one area. If you want one part of the plant to grow and not the rest, focus the light in that area.
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3. Placement of lights? My plan is to have a 40x1w led as the top and 2x13+watt cfl bulb (or small 12-15 watt led) on 3 of the 4 sides.
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You want the light distribution to be as even as possible. As the plants grow, the light angles will change. Shaded leaves cant conduct photosynthesis (especially for fruiting plants), and the more leaves the more shade the plant provides to the inner leaves.
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4. would 3w/other led's be better?
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Realistically, If you want to grow plants that would normally take 400 watt MH or
hps bulbs, you'll need a lot more than 3 watts of LED's. Realistically you'll need close to (if not more) actual wattage in LED or
CFL. When I say CFL wattage, I don't mean the bulb comparison output, I mean the actual energy consumption (with LED's too). Both LED and CFL lighting don't have nearly the light through as MH or HPS. When I say light through, I mean that the light intensity (lumen's) drops significantly after a foot or two compared to MH or HPS. The light through for MH and HPS is 4-5 times that of LED and CFL.
Just my two cents...