The first bend in the trunk is result of a previous pruning. I noticed that when I was looking at the first images. Looks like the trunk bifurcated (split to form a 'Y') at that point and one side of the bifurcation was pruned off. In mid-June, the lowest branch marked in yellow should be cut back to 4 leaves. The long branch moving left/ marked yellow in the image above, and the branch moving right/ marked yellow should also be pruned back to 2 leaves. The leader, above these 2 branches and marked in yellow, should be pruned back to a leaf that points in the direction you want the leader to grow. This is called 'directional pruning'. Example: With the above pruning cut made, the new branch (shows as a leaf only, but it's a new branch) in the axil of the leaf on the right will want to grow to the right. If you wanted the new leader to move left, you would prune lower, to just above the leaf on the left. A cut above the leaf attached to the severed part would give rise to a branch growing away from the grower. Because there are other forces in play, like phototropism (tendency for plants to bend toward the brightest light source), there is no guarantee the branch will grow where you wish, so you might need to encourage the new branch that forms in the axil of the leader's top leaf to grow where YOU want it to. I mentioned this already, but I'll reiterate that your tree will respond to pruning with a much higher degree of enthusiasm if you do the pruning A) while the tree's energy reserves are highest, and B) when the tree's current ability to carry on photosynthesis is peaking, both of which will occur during the summer solstice (21 June). 'Father's Day' is easy to remember. If you intend to repot, do it at the same time you prune. While you could probably remove a little soil to cut through (2 cuts) the kinked root that emerges from and returns too the soil, I would do it at the same time you prune the top. Reason: Pruning the top decreases the volume of foliage the roots must work to keep hydrated. It also makes it less likely that a branch on the same side of the tree where the kinked root is attached will die. When a tree is unable to keep certain parts hydrated, it sheds those parts. Unfortunately, they seem to always choose to shed parts the grower feels are essential to the o/a composition/ shape/ style of the tree. Some trees, like junipers/ yews/ arborvitae/ .... , develop a dedicated relationship between individual roots and branches, such that damage to a particular root will kill a particular branch. Notice the live veins connecting roots to individual branches below: This tree ^^^ has 4 branches and 4 live veins. Other trees lack the direct relationship between particular roots and branches. For the genus Ficus, the relation is moderate, but the lower a branch is (and the shorter the tree is) the greater the likelihood that death of a branch or root will result in the dieback of it's counterpart on the opposite side of the root to shoot connection. When serious about earning a green thumb, the largest step a container gardener can take in that direction will come from understanding how water behaves in container media and what that means to the health of your plants' root systems; this, because issues with root function and/or health cause the most problems by far, with some of them seemingly unrelated to root health. Two examples that lend support to the later contention are infections by disease pathogens and insect predation due to a less than robust metabolic rate, caused by limited root function or poor root health. A healthy plant will remain forever elusive unless and until we are able to maintain root systems in an elevated state of vitality (health). Al

Thanks! The bougies get brittle quicker. I have colors Id never seen before. Purple is normal in Fl. But here Ive found yellow, orange, white, red, pink and also veriagated with pink, with purple and with white. But I still like ficus more! So I dont need to keep them short with close folliage? There thickening and sub branching faster than I thought they would. And they like to send out several branches from one place. Am I right cutting the extras out and leaving one per location? Seems like maybe they could make reverse taper with three or four in one spot. Or is it no problem to leave them? I already took off anything that would have made bar branches. I figure there a waste of energy. Several in one spot seems like a waste too, like maybe its better to concentrate the energy where we want it. Or is my thinking off? I need to read up on tree growth. Never quit learning! Thanks again for your time and advice. Muy amable as they say here.

Im sorry, no fresh pics right now. But all of the trees in my AP system are growing nicely. 0 losses so far.. I have added a couple more strangler figs and another local ficus. Idk the species of any of them, just ficus from near my place in Costa Rica. I will say that the non strangler species has never taken to a pot after collection but in the AP they seem happy. When they grow more roots I can pot them, I think. The problem was lack of roots before I guess, from rough collection. But they seem ok in AP, and will have shallow, spread out roots soon. Then I can gently pull them out and pot them in the same kind of gravel. I chopped off the taproots of all the trees in AP or in the case of stranglers I just chop off a section of trunk.with roots, then plant it shallow. They grow roots all up and down the trunk wherever they touch the host. Sometimes I can get 4 or more little trees from a collected bigger tree, giving me instant fat trunks. From there they need to grow branches and nebari. When the rain quits pooring I will happily take more pics. But so far, nothing has died at least.. My f benji in the system looks very happy with lots of new growth, compared to the ones I have in pots. If anyone wants to grow organic, fast growing veggies and/or try with trees I am very happy to help. I learned everything I know about AP on you tube and the internet. Thats a great place to start.

Now that we have identified this as a Beauty Leaf Tree (Calophyllum), I have a followup question. I have one of these trees outside my front gate. But beyond the back line of my property, between the edge of pavement and my wood fence, I have this tree all over. This is an area about 40' long and 18' wide, and it's completely crowded with this tree. I did some counting today, and within this 40'x18' area, I have three large ones where the trunks are over 18" in diameter. I have about fifteen with trunks between 8" and 10", and I have numerous (several dozens) between 4"-8". Altogether I think I have over forty beauty leaf trees in various sizes growing in this small area. It's so thick and dense I cannot get inside this cluster of trees. It drops A LOT of fruits/seeds around this time of the year and previously owners just let them go crazy. I am trying to decide if I should cut back the small trees and over time get back to just the three large mature ones, or leave it alone and let it be? Thoughts?