I just bought a FLF from home depot. The gardening expert who works there gave me 50% off the tree because he said none of the FLFs that he has are doing very well. It was only $10 so I decided to get the tree and take a chance on making it happy and healthy. Since he said the other plants aren't doing well, I was thinking I would repot it (not pot-up), get a completely new soil, and start from scratch. I read a lot about FLFs and what I've learned is to use a soil that doesn't retain water, has large particles, and allows aeration in the soil. I'm pretty new to houseplants so is there a soil you recommend that fits those requirements? Do you recommend putting stones in the bottom of the container?

I was thinking of repotting the tree into a medium container with only soil in the container and holes at the bottom for drainage, then putting that container into a bigger, ceramic container with stones at the bottom. That way the soil doesn't collect water at the bottom, and there's a place for the water to go after watering. I live in a pretty dry area (Sunnyvale, California) and thought this would also help with humidity as well. What are your thoughts?

There are two trunks in the pot I got, both of which are about 3 ft tall with no branches. Eventually, I'd like to mold them into a tall tree shaped plant. I know this takes a long time, which I'm willing to invest in. I was wondering if the best plan to do this is to separate them into two separate pots, or to bind the two stems together to make one thicker trunk. Also, in order to encourage branching, I read that notching can be done, but I've never done that before, so is there a link anyone can give me with more information about that?

Last question is about the leaves themselves. The plant overall seems to be doing pretty well, but I have noticed that most of the leaves are curled at the edges instead of being flat. Is this normal? If not, what can I do to fix it?