One month into owning it, and I still feel like I know nothing. I'm actually afraid to touch it beyond watering it because I'm getting so much conflicting information. I'm not sure when or how to prune it, when to start getting plant food, when to re-pot it and what soil to use...it seems like every site I go to is telling me the opposite of what the last one did. So far it seems to be doing alright--it's even getting new growth, so I must not be killing it yet--but I really need to know what my next move should be.

So if anyone could point me in the direction of a reputable "Bonsai for Dummies" site or book, or even just has a little bit of advice, I'd really appreciate the help. :)

What you will find here is; stick a chopstick in the soil to find out how wet it is...but for god's sake don't stick your finger in and maybe get it dirty. Take off the glued on stones and repot it right away!! Into what?
With what?
And ,of course, the very learned person who will give you reams and reams of information which you will have to have a dictionary handy to understand a small percentage of...a botanical dictionary.

Good luck!

Bob

And the moss is gone. (That's exactly what I was talking about; I got at least three different answers as to whether or not it should stay when I was researching on my own.) Thank you. :)

Bob: Wow. Um...how am I even supposed to respond to this. Could it be that, perhaps, simply Googling turned up amateur sites I didn't know if I could trust, and academic searches turned up information too advanced for me to understand? I never claimed to be a botanist. I can admit when I know too little, and ask for help--which is why I came here in the first place, only to be mocked by a miserable human being who gets his jollies teasing a stranger over nothing. Wonderful.