Hi, it would really help to see pix of your tree, from a couple of sides, with some common thing like a coke can in there for scale - can't comment on pot depth without knowing the size. I have no idea what a #3 pot is. Wait until buds swell to work on it. Why would you only pinch buds rather than prune branches back? And, in fact, if you want to increase girth, planting it in the ground is the fastest way to do it, though if you're closer to zone 4 than 5, a large training box that you could mulch and keep in a shed for winter might be best.

BTW, it's Stewartia, not Stuartia.

Thanks for the Reply Larke. The Book i have Broke the name down into two spellings. Stewartia/stuartia, guess i should have used the other spelling. I will try to get a pic up. i have to find out how. Its a three gal.pot. I like the branch structure it has. I was thinking pinching shoots would keep new growth outward rather then straight up. a local store has plastic or some kind of hard rubber pots. in all kinds of depths and sizes,for bonsai. they are perfect for training. I can purchase one to put the tree in. so later getting it in a show pot wont be hard. the tree is about a foot and half tall. and the trunk base is about 1.5 inches. The pot that the tree is in is 10inch high and 10inch diam. and im sure its been in there for a while. Im thinking i have to start getting the tree use to a shallow pot. or its just going to be more difficult later on. This tree has so much bonsai potential.

Oh, when you do repot, if it's to a training box (if you Google 'bonsai training box" you'll see how they're constructed) it's definitely not too early age-wise to start training for shallowness, just do it within reason - i.e. over a couple of years of repotting rather than all at once. I guess I imagined that while pinching for direction is good, one hard chop (unless you want a very tall tree) together with branch shortening all around would lead to a bushier, more broom like shape, rather than the natural (if full) more spire-like one. But that's up to you.

Thanks for the reply
What im thinking is, i dont have to cut much, maybe about 5 inches off top, and the frame of the tree will be perfect. Then its a matter of letting that frame thicken, and contolling new growth/branching outward. Then of course getting it acustomed to a shallow pot. I was thinking about cutting the root mas by a third. and mounding new soil in a four inch pot where the trunk will be. And curling existing roots upward inside/along the edges of the pot. What do you think???