Hi everyone!

Very new to indoor plant growing here! My little FLF was the first plant I bought, and I bought this one specifically because it already had a branch. I didn't know anything about plants at the time, and now I fear that this branch (which is like 5-6 inches from the soil) will prevent the tree from growing a long, strong trunk.







I had a great summer of growth, with 5-6 new leaves, and my FLF is now about 2-2.5 feet tall, but the main part of the trunk at the bottom, while thicker, is still about the same length.



Will this plant ever be a tall tree? Or will it be destined to have a short, stocky trunk with two branches? What would you do?

Hi hannahgilliland,

Your Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata) looks great! It would likely take quite a number of years for it to form a thicker trunk. As Fiddle Leaf Figs begin getting tall and leggy and lose thier lower leaves, they are usually pruned to force branching and a fuller plant but the best time to prune is probably late spring or summer and the cut stems can be rooted for additional plants. The side branch on your plant won't cause any issues with the tree gaining height or trunk size. Fall and winter months are when plants normally slow down in growth but once spring (and especially summer) get here again, your tree will likely really take off and put on more height.

Thanks so much for your response! That makes me feel a little more assured. I guess, to me, it looks like the plant was cut to encourage branching, so there is a short "trunk" and then the main part of the plant is actually a branch (with the smaller secondary branch shooting off to the side). Will that main, big branch thicken up to act like a trunk?

plantladylin said:Hi hannahgilliland,

Your Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata) looks great! It would likely take quite a number of years for it to form a thicker trunk. As Fiddle Leaf Figs begin getting tall and leggy and lose thier lower leaves, they are usually pruned to force branching and a fuller plant but the best time to prune is probably late spring or summer and the cut stems can be rooted for additional plants. The side branch on your plant won't cause any issues with the tree gaining height or trunk size. Fall and winter months are when plants normally slow down in growth but once spring (and especially summer) get here again, your tree will likely really take off and put on more height.

Years ago my sister and her husband had a huge Fiddle Leaf Fig in their backyard that had a very broad trunk but I've never seen a potted Fiddle Leaf with a thick trunk so I'm not sure you will see much change.

Hannah, people usually have the opposite problem to what you are worried about. These plants get too tall, rather than too bushy and short. I would leave it alone for another year and see how it grows. The little branch at the bottom isn't preventing it from growing taller.

If the tree has been lopped at the top then, yes, it will branch higher up. But if you're growing it indoors all winter (you didn't tell us where you are?) then it will keep growing vertically. Put it near a sunny window for the winter. One or two of the top branches will go upwards, I'm pretty sure.

They get to be large trees outdoors here in Florida.