Greetings from elsewhere in the UK (Dorset). :-)

Is yours a Burgundy? They are lovely but they do need light if possible, more so than your basic rubber plant. Edit - I just looked at your profile - did you find Ficus Black Prince? Never heard of it!

Now, as you have deduced, 2 and 3 are fundamentally different growth shapes and yours will never end up like no. 3 unless you obtain another two and plant them in the same pot! Rubber plants are (basically) sold in the three shapes you can see here:

1. One stem (usually small)

2. Bush (from 0.5m up to huge)

3. 3-stem (from 0.7m up to about 1.5m)

So your best bet is to get your no. 1 to look like a no. 2. They way to do this will take a long time, and it's to repeatedly prune it back. No. 2 is an old plant that has repeatedly been chopped back so that it has got more and more branched.

About now is the best time to prune them but if yours is still small, wait until next year (?) , keep it well fed and in good light throughout the summer.

You could try Tiffany's approach, that's a bit above my knowledge level, and I can't answer your question about hormones.

I lied by the way, there is a fourth shape you can buy but they are v. expensive, and that's standard/lollipop shape. Here's one I prepared earlier:

:-)

Hi, your best bet is to buy it new that way. They are cheap. And keep the single stem growing like that.

It will take years for it to grow tall enough, so you cut and plant the cuttings like in 2,3 pic. Or for it to grow branches. So keep the single stem and (if you still prefer) do this as a long term project.

Meanwhile order one already like that.

also I would add, several plants (or stems) in a single pot do not grow as good as a single plant.

I recently sniped one Black Prince like 3. I the same time i got a smaller dark green like 1. I love them! Now 1 is about double the size of 3. And im considerig splitting the 3 plants.