well, yeah, you will be disappointed if you expect practical "first bonsai" kind of advice. Naka's books aren't really meant for beginners. They really weren't meant to be books. They are compilations of short articles he wrote for his classes (which weren't for beginners). Bonsai Techniques II, particularly isn't going to be of much help if you're trying to get the hang of how to water your tree. It is a book for more advanced bonsai folks and the detailed information on pot selection, makers and images is likely to leave someone just starting out just plain confused. While the books are excellent for many things, they're not the best starter material. Peter Chan, Colin Lewis, Harry Tomlinson and others have produced books that offer more concise books for beginners. Don't get me wrong, these books should be part of every bonsaist's collection. They aren't my first choice, though, of ideal beginners' books, especially when they command more then $40 and up, for each, nowadays...

When pinching plants to maximize foliage density and/or promote lots of branches, it's a pretty safe bet that if you allow the branches or vines to extend to 4 or more leaves before cutting the branch back to 2 leaves, there is little chance of die-back. New branches should grow from both remaining leaf axils, doubling the number of branches with each pinching operation. You need to be careful with rooting hormone. There are several synthetic forms of auxin (rooting hormones are synthetic forms of this hormone/growth regulator) that act as defoliants if used excessively. The infamous agent orange defoliant used during the Viet Nam war was simply synthetic auxin. The broad leaf herbicides like Weed-b-gone are also man-made forms of auxin. A 30 second dip in a 10% solution of unscented household bleach or a 10% solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide, or a dusting with powdered sulfur would have been an excellent way to combat the fungaluglies that cause root rot. Bare-rooting and repotting (hopefully into a fast draining and durable soil) was a good thing. Al

Much like when I clean a room in the house: it gets worse BEFORE it gets better :) The card stock trick from Podcast 10 (covering the leaf/leaves BEFORE you yank them) helps you imagine life without it/them. My theory is if the leaf looks like crap it's gone; baby & yellowing leaves: gone. (those are the easy ones! :) I figure gaps will fill in but why make a plant waste energy on damaged leaves just because it fills a gap. It will never get better! The more energy spent on the center/outward the better - the sooner there will be improvement. Q2 - "Do I need to open my plastic container often to let the soil dry out a bit?" If you think it's too wet - it probably is. Too wet could spell disaster = mushy, dead leaves. "Wicking" is tricky and I would make sure it's not keeping the rooting leaves soggy. (I don't wick leaves or root in water but as they say: do what works for you!)

Hi and welcome. . . I think part of the fun of gardening is to *just do it*. Like Gardenweed said, soil and light are important to know in order to be successful. When I started gardening there was no internet. If I saw something I liked I bought it. . . did it all live HECK NO ! I had a lot of no no's and flub ups along the way. Now I'm helping my daughter get her hands dirty in her own garden. I tell her about some of my mistakes and I really wonder why I stuck with it. Back then I. . . used liguid weed and feed on my annuals (I didn't have perennials yet) I grew hostas in full hot sun, poppies were in full shade. Just to share a few of my mistakes. The one thing I have taught my daughter that has been very helpful is read the tag before buying and save it after planting. Most of the time the info is accurate. It gives light requirements, watering needs, height/width and spacing as a guide line. If you see a plant that you like for a certain spot in your garden and the tag says it needs 6 hours of full sun but the bed you are buying for is in the shade you know it wont work there. No matter what happens, have fun. . . enjoy the process.