Powder Puff Bonsai

There are many varieties, some also do well in the landscape here, the larger varieties we have that do well in the landscape here have pink, red or white flowers. The most common varieties used for bonsai are Calliandra emarginata and Calliandra haematocephala ‘nana’ both called Dwarf Powder Puff and they are hard to distinguish apart.

The following comments are for the Dwarf Powder Puff.

FLOWERS... Beautiful red flowers practically year round. You can force bloom it by removing all signs of blooms--flowers and buds. Place in full sun and fertilize with Bloom Buster or Triple Super Phosphate. In 18-19 days it will be covered in flowers. Do only in late spring through summer.

PRUNING... Branches can be heavily pruned. Will tolerate severe root pruning, but must be protected from the sun for a few weeks. Can be completely defoliated to produce smaller leaves and a flush of blooms. Keep new leaf tip pinched off. Readily back buds on old wood.

TRAINING... I wire all secondary and some tertiary branches to produce fine ramification, this will also give you more area for flowers. New wood is very flexible, old wood gets brittle, will bend to a point and then snap.

WATERING... Likes a lot of water in the summer. It will close it’s leaves in the heat of the day when water stressed. Here in the winter it’s growth slows dramatically, so be careful not to over water.

LIGHT... Will tolerate lower light conditions of say a lanai or porch, but for compactness and more flowers, full sun is best.

INSECT/DISEASE... Has a lot of new growth so Scale and Aphids is common. A soapy water solution will take care of them. If infested use a systemic insecticide, such as Merit or Bonide.

FERTILIZE... A regular feeding of a balanced fertilizer will promote more flowers. It likes organics so feed with an organic fertilizer in between your regular feeding.

REPOT... Minimum night temperatures of low to mid 60s. A younger tree will need repotted every year or two while an older tree can go for three years.