What an unethical or sloppy nursery to sell such trees. I would cut the twist tie at the trunk line and you will probably be alright. As for the stake... another stupid thing for the tree producer. Leave the stake, but about every 2 months lower the ties about 3-4 inches until you can remove them entirely. And, most important... NEVER order trees from this seller again... and TELL your friends. I am a walking advertisement for things I like, as in Four Winds Growers; and I am the worst nightmare of businesses I don't like... Tell EVERYONE.

Thanks for the responses, Frank and Al. I've been slow in getting back to you because for some reason I'm not getting email notification even though I asked for it, so I don't realize that posts have come in. Frank, at first when I read your post on my thread, especially where you said, "You can fuse-graft additional Ficus B. material onto your original trunks," I thought you might be talking about grafting into the top of the termination point of a trunk, so that the growth would continue upward without zigs and zags - I don't know if that is even possible, but it turns out that isn't what you are talking about, but rather starting back at the ground level with additions that have roots. That sounds like it would take a long time from when I start with a spindly green thing (the only parts of my ficus that don't have sharp bends from the nursery's pruning), get it to grow roots, place it among my current trunks, and get it to join in so well that the old and new all function as one. If I was lucky, I guess I would end up with a trunk that starts out fat and then suddenly gets thinner at the point where the current trunks are terminated. But now that I have the thought, does anyone know if I would be able to split the top of a terminated trunk and graft an unpruned little branch into it? That would be a really sweet way to solve this! Incidentally, the first of the three pics that Al posted on your thread (with 3-4 trunks that fused in a couple places - is a direct link) is one that I had seen somewhere else in my searching, and that was what originally gave me the idea to try fusing. Interestingly, it is Al who feels that fusing is not relevent in my situation. Al, your way of replying inline was very helpful - thanks. Responding to some of your comments: May I suggest that you keep it on the balcony whenever you can & when temps are above 50-55*. I agree that that would be best for the plant, but I'm not really a plant hobbyist like most on this forum, but simply want to decorate my livingroom with green - all year round, not just in the winter. Also, I've heard that Ficus B. don't like to be moved, so it might drop its leaves twice a year if I did that. So I'd rather add a second light and hope for the best - if it doesn't work out, I'll buy something different that likes shade. Allow me to point out that all that sparseness you see in the center is very recent - for 2-3 months after I got it, it had its original dense growth (about 3 times as much foliage as there is now), was not shedding leaves, and was growing. Then suddenly it started shedding leaves and many of the branches actually died - I read more and realized that I hadn't been giving it any plant food/nutrients. I rectified that, and it started growing well again, but I had lost a lot of branches, especially in the interior area. All the photos are after I cut out all the dead stuff (and accidently cut one or two good branches from confusion over what was connected to what). But yes, I know that it should have more light, and with more light it probably would have withstood my neglect of food with less loss. I'm just pleased that it is doing as well as it is - I expected more problems. Yes, select the framework of your tree now. Allow the 3 or 4 branches you train to the vertical to extend to slightly less than your preferred end height, then terminate them. Okay. I have a long way to go before I'll have anything as long as my preferred height - it's about 2 1/2 feet tall now (including top foliage but not counting the pot) and I would like it about 5 feet tall eventually. The nursery terminated the trunks at about 20 inches above the pot. So my next challenge is selecting which branches to make vertical, and how aggressive to be at bending the stiffer areas. I'm just asking for general principles from your experience, not specifics for my tree, but sometimes examples are useful, so here are two more photos (click on thumbnails for a bigger view). This time I held foreground foliage out of the way and inserted a paper towel behind the area I want to show you, because I know it's really hard for you to see what's going on in a 2D image. The first one shows my next decision point on one of the trunks - there are four branches to choose from. The biggest is the one on the bottom right, but since the trunk is already tilting that direction (because this is part of the one trunk that split into two farther down) and the branch goes even more in that direction, it will take a lot of training to get it to become vertical, and I don't know how much training is actually possible with a branch that thick 81/4 inch diameter). [By the way, notice on the branch in the right foreground, slightly out of focus, the new green branch sprouting - new growth is starting to come back in the center area now that I have cut away the dead junk - hooray!] The second photo is of that biggest branch, showing the rest of it, especially the line made from whichever is the largest branch at each point. You can see that there are two more places where pruning changed the direction - the first just a couple inches from where it left the trunk and the other one at the right side of the photo, when the branch then turns away from the camera (that last leg is longer than it looks). My questions about this process are: (1) Is it generally best to choose the largest or strongest looking branch at each point even if more training is needed to go vertical, or is something smaller that is already closer to vertical a better choice? In the second photo, you might be able to see what I'm thinking - the big branch is nice and long and strong, but if now or next spring I boldly cut it off, the little one that goes almost straight up will become the future for that trunk. The question stems from the fact that I don't know just how much directional change I can train into branches that are already strong and covered with bark, like that first joint going to the right. If I can get that big guy to bend upward in a relatively short distance, great, but otherwise, perhaps it makes more sense to resign myself to having a one-inch "jog" in the route and just utilize the small guy that goes up already. I know you would need to handle my tree yourself to be able to give a specific answer, but I'm just using this as an example to ask for your recommended rule-of-thumb: keep larger branches and try to bend them aggressively, or use whatever is already going up? (2) When training, how hard can I pull on the tough branches at one time? Of course right now I'm only using paper tape so I can't use much pressure at all, but if I used wire I could exert more strength - is that okay (as long as I don't break the branch, of course), or should I do a little at a time and tighten the wire every couple weeks or so? If you know of a good web tutorial on these kinds of things, that would be great - the only pages I found about bonsai techniques seem to assume the reader already knows how much they can bend a branch, what material to tie with, how long it would take before the branch was trained and the tie could be removed, etc. Sorry to have so many questions. I guess I'm trying to get my ficus to do something the nursery never intended: become a tree. ;-)

carolb, I don't think it would work in a cookie press at all. I just finished making Pepperjack Crackers using my cookie press, so their consistency is fresh in my mind. I looked at the Taste of Home recipe yesterday. It has more booze, but it also has fewer eggs, no sour cream, and confectioner's sugar instead of granulated which means a modicum of cornstarch, too. This carp is going in the trash. It was a poorly constructed recipe. It is not something I ever would have chosen to bake. I only attempted it because in a moment of idiocy, I signed up for a Cookie Challenge. The people who did make the recipe, say the cookies are tasteless and the texture is not pleasing. LindaC, I think this is exactly one of those cases you propose - someone came up with a recipe and either didn't test it or if they did, there are steps and ingredients that didn't make it into print.

wow. that was a really bold bathroom. and-you do like the same colors. love the vanity (that's my DH's favorite granite btw..he loves maps..and big slabs do look like huge very interesting maps..)) as for what to pick for vanity now..listen to yourself. One needs to be in the mood for finding cool things. I love that idea. I didn't re-purpose but was just lucky to find a very cool handmade vanity on Craigslist for our powder room..very challenging space, and we got it painted(the legs) since it was a bit rusty..and it had to be attached to the wall in a special way etc But now I'm tired..I have to find some furniture on Craigslist for my son's room but I'm sorta in a collapsed mode. so it's not getting done. and i might betray myself and just buy something new..:) which is actually not needed in this case..just to save myself a hassle. and it will be boring new-because not boring new costs too much if you have the energy-go for unique..if it's your usual mode. will make you happier. in the long run do you want to repaint the one that's there-or you don't like it enough?