I'm going to assume that you're inquiring about a Ficus elastica. Different plants can be called "rubber plant", but Ficus elastica is a fairly common houseplant.

Ficus elastica does usually respond well to pruning IF it is growing fairly vigorously and you leave a few leaves on branches or trunks that are to be kept. If your plant is still very small, you may want to give it time and see if it branches naturally. If it is growing tall and lanky, you may want to give it more light, if possible. If your plant is already taller than you'd like but does not branch out, removing the tip or a top section (if really tall) should do the trick. A picture might help us know more about what you have and to understand what you're after.

Oh, BTW, you may also want to do a search for similar threads. You may not find a lot in this forum, because it is supposed to be about propagation and this isn't so much of a propagation topic. I bet the houseplant forum would have a number of threads with a very similar question.

Brandon7, thanks for the input. My plant is a little less than 1 foot tall. I assumed your method of getting it to branch was what I needed to do, but it's nice to have someone reinforce that thought. This is the first ficus elastic I've had and I'm pretty protective of it. A couple more months and a couple more leaves taller should be about right to cut the tip off of it. Many thanks.

Agreed. And also assuming Ficus elastica. If the upper leaves prevent the lower part of the plant from getting enough light, lower secondary branches are much less likely to form. Plants naturally arrange themselves to take best advantage of available light. Within the context of the excellent advice above about light level...

IME with pruning plants, removing the growth tip leaves the plant in decision mode, with the outcome much more uncertain. Often you just get a bifurcated tip with still no secondary branches. If you can make the decision for the plant, the result can be more predictable. Leaving the top 4-5 leaves, then removing everything below, or selected leaves if there are enough to do so, will be much more likely to result in branches forming at those lower nodes.

This is not something that needs to be drastically done at one time. At this time of year, the shorter days and weaker rays of sun usually are not enough for vigorous, active growth. So removing a significant portion of the foliage can be especially difficult. As I'm sure you're curious and possibly impatient as most people tend to be, how about removing 1 or small number of leaves to begin observing the results?

I do this constantly to plants, so it's never a shock. This is one technique used by bonsai growers to more predictably shape their specimens.

Ficus grows fairly slowly. Some faster-growing specimens fun to experiment on would be Coleus, wax and some cane Begonias, various Plectranthus, basil, Alternantera, Brugmansia, Hibiscus, Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus) to give a broad range of examples since I don't know where in the US you are.

Do you have a pic of your plant? Specifics could be offered.

I agree about looking for info about this exact same thing in house plant forum in particular. If you would prefer to remove the tip and stick that in some soil, you're propagating then! Many people just put it in the pot next to the mama for ease of care (basically doing this eliminates caring separately for the cutting,) and if they are after the bushy look and would appreciate using multiple trunks/individuals to do so. Neither is better or worse, just personal preference & using what you have to work with as your guide.

P.S. The Ficus genus has latex sap. The white milky appearance is a clue though not all plant sap with this appearance has latex in it, supposedly, though I can't find a single example. I say, "see white, take flight" - to the sink immediately if it's on me. To some it's just another harmless plant sap, to others, contacting it can result in misery akin to poison ivy and other awful maladies if it gets in eyes, mouth. I would urge you to simply avoid getting the sap on yourself so you don't accidentally experiment with your skin. Once dried, it seems to be benign though I'm not curious enough to experiment any further than I already have. Could be because it's not an oil like the...

Thanks for the additional input. I have moved my F. elastic back into a room with more indirect sunlight. My little sprout had 7 leaves plus the spike where a new leaf would grow. I pulled the middle leaf off to see if that node would produce a branch. Only time will tell. But I will make sure it gets more sunlight from now on. The sprout has produced a new leaf about every 6 to 7 weeks since I rooted it and I hope to see a branch before Valentine's Day.