Hi Angie,
Welcome to the forum. Sounds like soon you will blow us all away with the bonsai you'll be able to grow in your freetime!!

I wish I was in a position to toss the hat, and do bonsai fulltime. Guess I will have to serve the working force for another 32 year I am afraid (Retirment age was just raised to 67). Sigh. (Oh, and don't take this for being jealous; I can only imagine what it has been like in Iraq; I do a lot of work with Arab nations on education, even those friendly visits can result in pretty strong cultural shocks!)

Have fun, enjoy, ask questions. There are people here with all sorts of backgrounds, from pure indoor bonsai growers with only a year of experience to people growing bonsai in all shapes and sizes commercially. As you can read on the forum, I am somewhere in-between; Lots of experience growing plants, somewhat less specific on bonsai.

Welcome!

Bonsai is a great way for me to relieve stress. Seen some bad stuff while in the Army. I also got injured - I get 90% disability. Another reason i was able to retire at the age of 40.

I am taking it all one day at a time. Looking forward to seeing ya'll around the forum.

Shame aklister thats terrible, i agree 100% with you about Bonsai being a stress releiver its so peacefull

Well hello there. I am new to the forum though have been working with bonsai for well over years now. I first got interested with it on my primary 5 year when some biology lecturers did a talk about it in an invitational class. They looked really awesome and since then, I have grown to love it. Though I did start with it about 4 more years after.

husina wrote: Well hello there. I am new to the forum though have been working with bonsai for well over years now. I first got interested with it on my primary 5 year when some biology lecturers did a talk about it in an invitational class. They looked really awesome and since then, I have grown to love it. Though I did start with it about 4 more years after.

Hello, Husina!

Welcome to the forum...so glad you could join us!

How many years have you been working with bonsai?...it didn't show up in your post. It's great to have another member who is more experienced here on the forum. Please feel free to post photos of your trees. I look forward to getting to know you and to sharing the art of bonsai with you.

Hello all, my name is Jim and I live in Louisville, KY zone 6. I am an artist, contractor woodworker and I now work for a company as a specialty fabricator of rides/features for water/amusement park, zoos, commercial buildings etc.
I have been interested in bonsai for about 11 years. I say “interested” because most of those years I have spent learning from the many mistakes one can make when you are self-taught i.e. collecting/buying bad stock, killing trees with the most basic of mistakes, creating bad designs only to spend the next ten years correcting them. I have spent a little time with clubs but with work, family, moving, and everything in between I have found it hard to really be involved with them as much as I would like to be. I am hoping this next year will be better with a new, more stable, job and, with it, some money to spend on workshops and going to see shows etc. I also feel like I’m in a better place to really begin collecting some real stock I can work with. I have been better about keeping and eye out for things and then following through on the whether I can collect it. I guess all those dead trees may pay off in not killing something worth keeping alive.
I really enjoy other forums I have been a part of for a little while ( ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/forum and bonsaistudygroup.com/ ) so I’m excited to join another I can check in on every time I sit down to the computer. Happy New Year to you all.

Happy New Year to you, Jim!

Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you on board. It's always great to have a new member with some hard-earned bonsai experience to share. I'm looking forward to seeing you around the forum.

Hello, my name is Ben Taylor. I'm a software engineer living in upstate New York, now training at the Rochester Zen Center. My sister Laura gave me my first bonsai this year for Christmas. I haven't had much experience with gardening, but I remember an amazing bonsai exhibition hosted by the Cornell Agricultural Extension when I was just a kid. I'm excited to be caring for this little tree, and hope I can learn enough to keep Eustace-hime alive for her repotting this spring.

RIGHT!!

SO THIS IS WHERE WE ALL SAY HELLO, GREETINGS FROM A VERY HOT SOUTH AFRICA, MY NAME IS MIGUEL AND I'M NEW TO THE SITE.

BEEN BUSY WITH BONSAI ON AND OFF FOR A FEW YEARS AND JUST RECENTLY STARTED GROWING AND COLLECTING AGAIN AS NOW I HAVE A GARDEN AND SO MUCH SPACE TO FILL UP HAHAHA AND YEAH THE INFO ON THIS SITE IS BRILLIANT, EVEN MADE MY FIRST BENCH ACCORDING TO ONE OF THE ARTICLES I FOUND ON HERE!!

Hello Ben (aka:Macguges),

Wecome to the forum and to the world of Bonsai! So glad you could join us. *Eustace-hime* is one lovely looking tree and I luv her name!

If there is anything "artificial"...such as glued-on pepples, etc. on the surface of your tree's soil it must be removed so that you can properly tell whether your tree needs water and, so you can be sure that when you do water your tree it is getting down to and thoroughly soaking the roots. Every tree is different and has it's own unique needs and requirements in order to grow well and be happy. Therefore the first most important step is to properly identify your tree then research it's origin (climate it originally came from) and it's specific cultivation requirements. If you have any questions, this is the place to ask so just jump right in, ok?. I'm looking forward to watching Eustace-hime's progress!