Hi, Gilbert. The best way to get branches to form is: make sure the roots are healthy - get the plant outdoors where light is very bright and there is plenty of air movement ...... but there are other ways, too like judiciously defoliating (more on that below) or notching. Dividing your Ficus isn't all that traumatic for the plant. In fact, you can actually "divide" large ficus with an axe if necessary, not that I'm recommending that practice; but, you can actually hack the plants apart so each half has an appropriate volume of roots attached, dividing them is no more dangerous than repotting. How about sharing a few pictures of your tree from different angles. Often, if there are ACTUALLY 2 or more individual plants in a pot, you can actually separate them by pulling them apart after removing most of the soil with little force. Your tree produces a growth regulator (hormone) called auxin in all it's dynamic tissues. One of its functions is suppression of lateral growth, which would be new branches. Most auxin is produced in apical meristems, which are the active growth regions near branch tips, but auxin is also produced in leaves. Removing leaves reduces the polar flow of auxin - "polar" because it only moves downward. This means there may not be enough auxin flowing downward to inhibit growth from latent (like dormant) buds, which allows another growth regulator (cytokinin) to activate buds proximal (closer to the roots) to the leaves removed. The result of the newly activated bud is a new branch. In many cases, the outcome is very predictable, in other cases, the result is quite predictable, but the pattern random. IOW, given any healthy ficus with a branch that has 100 leaves on it, all of which are removed in summer, you can bet as much as you like on the fact that significant back-budding will occur on that branch as it pushes a new flush of growth, and the number of leaves that emerge after defoliation will be much higher than the 100 you started with. It's also very likely there will be additional back-budding on other branches close to the trunk or off the trunk itself below the defoliated branch. I'm not sure where you live, but the month of June in the N hemisphere is a very good time to do any serious work on your trees. Potting up isn't serious work, but repotting is. Repotting (includes root pruning and a change of soil) ensures your plant will not be limited by root congestion until about the time the root/soil mass can be lifted from the pot intact. Potting up ensures the limitations imposed by root congestion and soil compaction will continue until the plant dies or the grower intervenes and eliminates the congestion by repotting. You might find value in the info this link will take you to. If you like that thread, I can link you to another that discusses caring for trees in containers for the long term. It goes into considerable detail about root work and other tips to keep trees happy in containers. There is no reason a well-tended tree in a container can't outlive both of us and be kept healthy and compact, with proper care. Trees in pots have far more potential to outlive their counterparts growing in situ (where they naturally occur). Al

The best way to encourage branching is to get your plant outdoors when temps allow. It should have plenty of sun and air movement. Air movement increases the rate of the nutrient stream's flow, which increases the amount of nutrients available to viable tissues. Root congestion discourages back-budding and encourages loss of older leaves and leaves close to the trunk on extending branches, so make sure you know how to repot and do it regularly. Every 3 years is about right for a plant your size, but it's growth rate and level of vitality plays into what an appropriate interval between repots might be. For a very healthy tree, every other year might be better. Low fertility also causes loss of older leaves and a reduction in enthusiasm about back-budding. so make sure you're fertilizing at luxury levels when the plant is growing strong. When you prune also has an impact on the level of lateral breaks (back-budding). You'll see best results if you prune a healthy tree in the summer when it's energy reserves are very high and its food-making ability (photosynthetic potential) is at or near its peak. Al

Hi Heather, don’t worry your fiddle leaf fig looks fine. Many people would prune their FLF in just this manner to encourage it to branch from the top. Sometimes it takes awhile for new branches to start to grow from the top and plenty of bright light will help it do so quicker. (More often then not you should probably get 2 new branches from the top). Pruning would usually be done in Spring/Summer while the plant is showing active growth. If you’re growing season is coming to an end you may not see new growth/branching from this area until next Spring. Sometimes fiddle leaf figs are stubborn....just like children. Lol Don’t worry too much as your FLF looks nice and healthy. I actually love the way yours looks right now. Happy growing :)

Internodes grown under conditions of photosaturation (occurs when the plant is getting more light than it can use, but not enough to produce harmful oxidase) can be as little as 1/10 the length of internodes grown under low light conditions commonly found indoors during winter. As a member of the bonsai community, I can say that all experienced practitioners use a number of strategies to ensure their plants are as full and compact as can bee; this, because it makes for a much more attractive plant. Pruning the lanky late fall/ winter/ early spring growth ensures that all internodes retained on your tree will be as short as possible. Not only does this make for a nicer looking plant in the immediate, it affects spacing of branches whenever the plant is pushed to back-bud. IOW, since almost all back-budding in F lyrata occurs in leaf axils (crotch formed by leaf stem and the branch it's attached to) or immediately above leaf/bundle scars (the scar left on the branch when a leaf is shed), the length of long forgotten internodes comes into play any time you use rejuvenating pruning techniques. My experience has been, growers are at first thrilled when they find themselves able to keep their plants alive and healthy. During this phase of their development, pruning and root pruning is somewhere in the near vicinity of 'unthinkable'. "Nuh uh man! That tree grew it and I ain't taking anything off it grew because I'm afraid I might kill it." Somewhere down the road, the grower wants a greater challenge. It's often found in learning new techniques that help to keep plants looking healthy AND attractive. Having arrived at that stage, it becomes apparent the plant is not a good manager of its energy flow. It sends energy to areas that ensure it remains healthy, very often at the expense of appearance. Pruning forces your tree to allot energy to areas that would otherwise be ignored until shedding takes place. That's why, after a while, most lower branches are shed and more than 75% of existing growth and new growth is found in the upper 1/3 of the indoor tree. Had the top heavy trees been pruned appropriately, so the top 1/3 doesn't hog 2/3 of the energy allotted, and so light could penetrate the canopy to stimulate back-budding, the tree wouldn't require anything in the way of drastic pruning. No matter what, as your tree lives on, you'll need to prune it. You might as well set in motion a plan that has you working WITH the tree instead of against its natural rhythms. The tree will be better for it, and you'll get more personal satisfaction because you'll be a better nurturer. Al