This one got away from me. Mea culpa. Please find the last & hopefully final version below:
Welcome to the Empire!
This forum is a forum for all to discuss the fine art of growing japanese miniature trees, or Bonsai. In order to make your stay at the forum as pleasant as possible, please read through a few pointers as to how we prefer to interact.
Differences are common. First of.. This is a very international forum, with members in virtually every country in the world. So for most, English is not their native tongue. As a result of this, together with all the different culural backgrounds, please be patient with the other members. Some are very elaborate in their responses. Others are short and to the point. But all are responding in an attempt to guide people in what they believe is the right direction.
Introduce yourself. Yes. This is a community. Let us know you are here, and who you are!? There is a thread for introductions:
www.bonsaiempire.com/forum/bonsai-cafe/184-introduce-yourself
No thread take-overs. In this forum, we prefer it if people make a new thread instead of posting their own trees with similar questions in the thread of another person (The latter is referred to as thread hijacking, which will give you an idea how this is seen). Feel free however to cross-link to your own tree.
Bonsai, "mallsai" and frequently asked questions. This forum is often visited by people who just have bought a plant labelled "bonsai" at one of the big retailers. Do note that although these starter plants are good to get into the hobby, most people will frown a little upon these plants. Several members will clearly let you know that this is not a bonsai. Please try and understand that this forum is not really about keeping these plants, nor plants in general. They are however the type of plants that are most commonly bought as first introduction to bonsai. So do not get put off by the label. Use them to learn, and get a feel for what it is to grow bonsai. See some of the FAQ's here:
www.bonsaiempire.com/forum/help-me/10126...us-juniper-help-here
Search the forum. Unfortunately, many new members do not take the time to flip through a few posts to see whether their question has been answered. And at certain time of the year we see the same question pop up almost on a daily basis. Help the forum help you, by doing a search first. If you have a question like "Help my bonsai is dying", or "What bonsai do I have", please search the forum before asking this question. And for the "What bonsai do I have" type questions: There is a decent species guide on tis site (See menu items "Tree Species")
www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/bonsai-identification
How to ask a question. People are more responsive to questions that indicate that you have done your homework too. So please indicate what you have done to answer your question yourself. A question that can be answered with one search in google will not get the most productive responses.
How to post a picture. We love pictures on the forum. Ideally, you integrate the picture with yur post by uploading the image to the forum. This way, the image is available to other people searching the forum. We find that externally hosted pictures often get lost when people end their account by image hosting providers. You can upload images with a maximum total size of 1Mb per post to the forum directly through the attachment link. They should be smaller than 1000pixels on the longest side. This may mean you have to reduce the picture in size before uploading.
Respect the other members. Some of our members have een growing bonsai for a long time. Listen to what they have to say. Just because a website sais one thing, this is not per se true. And local climatic conditions may influence the answers. Differences in opinion exists, and are great. But do not argue just to argue. Argue based on experience, or from confusion / to get clarification.
Enjoy and interact. No matter how new you are at the hobby: Participate. This forum exists because of the members.Only by interacting will a forum stay around. So please. Enjoy your time here. Ask questions, give your insight and share your experience.
