About 3-4 weeks ago I candle-pruned my white pine according to the instructions in Paul Lesniewicz' book Bonsai, the complete guide...

It did start some back budding on the branches which I really needed, but the remaining part of the candles are starting what looks to be mini pine cones, in a lovely shade of purple. They are only about 1/4" in length (the whole tree is only a foot tall above the rim) and there are probably more than 100 over the whole tree. Even the back buds look like tiny purple pine cones now.

I need some quick advice. Are these real pine-cones? Will they drain the tree of energy? I was hoping for just new needle growth, and there are some new needles forming above the cones but the cone take up a lot of space. Should I pinch some off?

Wags