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

I am 73 years old. Some 30 years ago, my BP started going up, and I was advised to reduce salt. I did it and monitored my BP every day, and watched it go down gradually but steadily. and it stayed down for a few years. Then it started climbing again, and I started taking anti-hypertensive medications. I now take two different such medications to keep my BP within normal range, and I watch my diet. Eliminating salt from your diet is very difficult because so many things contain salt. It's not just avoiding the salt shaker and avoiding salt in the food you cook. Most people do not know it, but milk, bread and most cold cuts and cheeses contain salt. Meats and fishes also contain some salt. The only things that contain no salt are potatoes, fruit and veggies, rice, grains, beans and unsalted nuts. You can accustom your taste buds to "like" unsalted food and, after a few weeks, you will find even lightly salted things too salty and wonder how you ever ate them. Depending on your personal situation, you might make life very complicated for the people you live with. If you decide to embark on this low sodium effort, make sure your BP elevation is not so high as to pose a serious risk, because you could do yourself harm if you do not get your BP under control promptly. Another thing to consider is that some people with high BP have a form of the disease that is particularly salt-sensitive. They respond especially well to reduced sodium intake. If your illness is not of that type, then you will probably eventually find that sodium restriction does not afford you the degree of BP control that you need, and you will have to start taking medication. Of you can try calcium supplements, but they can be constipating. The cheapest and for most people safest starting antihypertensive medication is hydochlorthiazide (HCZT), which is available as a generic and costs less than $20 per month. It's a very safe drug, and you will probably not experience any unpleasant side effects. Blood pressure control is one of the few areas where the drug industry has succeeded very well. The available treatments are highly effective and extremely safe. You will hardly know you are taking any medication, and the "silent killer" can be kept safely at bay.

Disclaimer: I don't water the way I'm about to describe because I have too many plants and won't take the time; but, the best way to water is: Slowly pour water over the entire surface of the soil, just until the soil is saturated. Return after 15 minutes to an hour and water a second time so at least 15-20% of the total volume of water applied exits the pot. This is very effective at flushing salts from the soil. If you cannot water this way w/o worrying about soil saturation affecting root health/function, your plant wants you to think about a different soil, or at least a way to mitigate the volume of excess water a soil can hold (there are many ways to do this). This is also the best way to flush the soil, excepting that those using soils that can't be flushed with each watering would be using much more water (at least 10X the volume of the pot you're flushing) during the exercise. Outdoors, I use a hose and water as fast as I can w/o blowing the soil out of the pot, but indoors, I need to be careful about how much water exits the drain hole, so I use more care and a 1 quart/ 1 L water can with a caulking nozzle adapted to reduce the diameter of the water stream.I can accurately direct a slow stream that covers the entire soil surface. I very quickly learned (and so would you) how long to supply additional water after the pot started to drain, in order to ensure I was using enough water to flush the soil every time I water. I also fertilize every time I water at a very low dose. For all plant needs in winter and for all of our drinking water, I use a small reverse osmosis (R/O) filtration system that's capable of making 75 gallons of water with 0 ppm dissolved solids per day. Essentially, it's the same as using distilled water, but at a tiny fraction of the cost. The R/O system would also serve those well who are using a very water retentive medium, this, because it allows watering in sips, as there is no concern about salt build-up with R/O or distilled water (except when it's part of a fertilizer solution). It's also much more effective when used for flushing a soil. Al

My area has naturally very soft water most of the year (under 4 grains/gallon) and it can climb up to about 7 or 8 during short periods of the year, when they need to get water from another source to supplement demand. So, anyway, my machine is going to be about 10 years old soon, but it was the top of the line back then. I don't have to tell the machine how hard the water is, in fact I can *ask* it how hard was the water last cycle, which is how I know the water hardness varies during the year. In my case, I have consistently used just about 1 kg (~2.2 pounds) of salt (or one box) per year. About once a year, depending on how much water the city got from which sources, the light comes on asking for more salt. You don't need to add salt, I think, with a cup or so still in the reservoir. The other difference is that my machine is set for "powder" whether or not I use tablets, because I *want* the machine to soften the water and also use the rinsing agent. If I set it for tablets, particularly for 3-in-1 (instead of 2-in-1), it tends to use a minimal amount of rinse agent, and I prefer the results I get when it's set to powder. Your model is much newer and may use a different programming, I dunno. In any case, I wouldn't worry unless you are not happy with the results. Good luck!