Rosaelyn
Senior Member
Posts: 244
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:40 am
Location: Brighton, Michigan

Help us help you. What information to include in your posts.

It seems new visitors to the Bonsai Forums have many of the same questions first off. The purpose of this sticky is to address upfront some important items and questions, so that we may more efficiently help new enthusiasts.

To help us help you, please address as many of the following items as possible in your initial post. Our hope is to improve the quality and timeliness of our responses.

1. Proper identification - This is best achieved by a few pictures and will help us advise whether this tree is best cared for indoors or out. A few pictures of the entire tree, and a picture of the leaves. Also please post a picture of the flowers, if the tree has any.

How to post pictures: Look here if you need [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3724]assistance posting photos.[/url] Look here for tips on [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3557]taking better bonsai photos.[/url]

2. Poster's location in the world - This is also helpful for us to assist with care and advise whether this tree will do better indoors or out.

3. Tree's age and History - How old is the tree, if you know? How long has it been in your care? From where did you purchase/receive the tree (online vendor, local store, gift, etc.)? Please be as specific as possible.

4. [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1479]Watering care[/url] - The number one killer of new bonsai is improper watering. Please read over this post and let us know how the tree has been watered to this point.

5. Soil and Pot - Pictures of the soil are very helpful. Also, a quick explanation of how well the soil absorbs water, whether the soil drains quickly and if there are holes in the bottom of the pot to aid in this drainage. Find information on soil [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3422]here[/url].

Important Note: If there are rocks and/or moss glued to the top of the pot, please remove these immediately and let us know if they were present. These are purely for decoration and shipping purposes and should not be left on the pot as they are detrimental to the soil's ability to breath.

6. Lighting and location of the tree - Please let us know where you keep your tree (south facing window? under a light? if so, what type?). Trees need lots of light to perform photosynthesis and stay healthy. Low light equals poor health and may lead to other problems, such as pest infestation. Many trees kept indoors require supplemental light.

7. Are you willing/able to grow outdoors? - Bonsai has traditionally been an outdoor activity and for many species growing outdoors is all but a necessity. For others, spending the summer outdoors will help to invigorate them. Of course not all species can be grown outdoors in all climates so exercise caution until you are sure of your trees requirements.

8. Humidity trays - Also very important to trees kept indoors. A humidity tray is a tray kept underneath the tree's pot. This tray is lined with gravel or other small stones and should have water in it at all times. A humidity tray provides a small pocket of humidity around a tree, making up, to some extent, for the lack of humidity in many houses.

Thank you, and welcome to the forum! :)
Last edited by Rosaelyn on Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
djlen
Green Thumb
Posts: 660
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2009 8:37 pm
Location: Just East of Zone 7a

Rosaelyn,

This is an excellent idea and an excellent synopsis of what we all ask when a person writes in with the questions that we see repeated here almost daily.
By posting this, rather than have to repeat ourselves by asking those questions, we can refer the writer to "the sticky at the top of the page".
I have seen this done frequently on other forums and can't believe I didn't think of writing it myself. :)

The only thing that I can think of that is not included is the link on 'How to Post Pictures on our Forum'. As you know, this is a frequent question as well.
I hope Norm will consider adding it to the stickies.

Rosaelyn
Senior Member
Posts: 244
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:40 am
Location: Brighton, Michigan

Len,

I also agree on linking to how to post pics. Thnx for the addition. :)

Norm,

I would be interested in reformatting this for a sticky. I am curious to see if we get any other feedback on what might be useful to include in that all-important initial posting.

I believe it will get newcomers thinking on what care items they can improve beforehand, and give us that needed information to provide adequate suggestions and assistance from the start. All of which should make for a more pleasant and helpful introduction.



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