Advice for those new to Bonsai

Im really digging the reddit. Thanks!

music~maker said:

Here are some random thoughts...

Read as much as you can find, and try as much of what you read as you can. We have an extensive wiki over on reddit that you may find helpful: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/wiki/index. There's a ton of useful info here as well, both in the threads as well as in the tutorials.

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Paradox said:

Learn patience.
Trees do not move along the journey as fast as you would like them to and you can't force them to.

Study techniques then try them out on your trees.
Work on your trees and see how they respond.
Learn from the above

Only work trees that are strong and healthy
Make sure you feed your trees enough so that they are strong and healthy

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Any recommendations for fertilizer?

RLL said:

Any recommendations for fertilizer?

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Any of the commercial things like Miracle Grow, Peters 20-20-20 Miracid and so on. These all work well enough to do the job until you start to understand that you have special needs of feeding rats and other rodents.

I can reccomend two types for general tree development growth.
1. Apex made by Simplot NPK plus . 16-5-9 slow release type .
2. Osmocote type 14-14-14 slow release as well.
I feel it is important to measure the amount used and tend to use 1/2 the reccomended rate off the bag. Based on container size.
For specific use over short term it is best to use tea bags, fertilizer baskets, or liquid applications that can be started and stopped easier on a particular schedule.
When trees are becoming more refined i tend to use home made organic with lower numbers.

And take any opportunity of free plant material, one man's trash and all that.