Hi there,

I've found this awesome site just yesterday and have read through the whole training section and bought a Calliandra ("Pink Poodle"... = surinamensis?) that I've been fancying for months now.
Now I am looking for every little piece of information about her, but Google doesn't tell that much. Do you know better sites out there that tell me preferably everything about Calliandra and how to have it as Bonsai?
It's about 1m tall now and I'd like to leave it that height (guessing that starting large is somewhat easier and because I love those really big almost-not-bonsai-anymore ). But the trunk would have to get much thicker and the training section here said the only way to have this bigger is to have it grow freely for some years. So does that mean I can't prune it for a few years? Or will it grow bigger over time anyways? Does pruning slow down the process?

Also I've got some one year young plants grown from seed here (I moved from Germany to tropical Darwin and have just been enjoying how everything thrives like crazy in this climate) and a few of them (I guess some kind of Acacia but actually I've got no idea, just collected some seeds in a pod) are already showing some really nice ramification with the plants only being 10 to 20cm high. I thought they would be *perfect* for Bonsai if I just keep them that size by pruning as they grow. I prefer that idea over cutting a thick trunk back and trying to hide the cut somehow, really. But will the little trunk grow much bigger if I do it this way?

Oh and then I'm really afraid of cutting back roots, tap roots even I've read in quite a few places to be gentle with plant roots and never ever cut a tap root... Well that was not about Bonsai but how can I tell if a plant will survive such a treatment? Are there plants that do and that don't or do all plants survive or...?

Thanks in advance for every trick and hint and link and info
Cheers, Tina

howdy leloo,
well first welcome to the site...i used bing and searched "calliandra bonsai"and got a few hits. as for the speices i have never heard of it till you mentioned it.
well to answer a few of your questions pruning will induce more growth by creating more ramification.the more branches and leaves the more energy needs to be transported which in theroy increases trunk size.
keeping the plant small will not make the trunk large.a repeated process of letting the tree grow large and heavy pruning is the way bonsai attain ther large trunks...scars will heal over and dissapear over time
tap roots serve a purpose when plants are in the ground. they "tap" the ground to find water deeper in the soil. in a pot this is not needed because the grower supplies the water.the roots you need to be concerned with are the finer "feeder" roots. these are the ones that absorb water and nutrients to the plant. i don't really recomend cutting the whole tap root at once. it should be a gradual process so the plant can form feeder roots closer to the trunk base.
by the way can you post pics of your tree im sure we all would like to see it.hope this helped

Hi Tina,

Welcome to the forum; so glad you could join us!

Here is a one link I found on the various Calliandra varieties. plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordq...mit.x=15&submit.y=11

Also found this on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calliandra

Haven't been able to find is as a bonsai however, if I do I will post it. Hope this helps?