Maximize root performance during growing season into it's peak performance outdoor with sunlight UV filter on top of it. Set soil and pot type accordingly for best result. Dense rich organic soil with full pores pot (pot with many small holes) is my fav. You can repot back to safer indoor soil at the end of growing season.

The plant isn't likely to respond to pruning with vigorous branching this time of year because it's starting to store the energy produced by its leaves for the winter rather than producing new growth (unless you live in the southern hemisphere, in which case the best time to prune is around the summer solstice). The response will be even weaker if those damaged leaves are a symptom of a compromised root system.

It's counterproductive to remove leaves unless they have a disease that might spread to other parts of the plant. Plants will drop leaves once they use less energy than they use; otherwise, they need every bit of leaf area they have in order to grow roots and produce enough energy to backbuds and branch in response to ample light or light pruning.

So what damaged the leaves? Did they have the dead brown areas near their edges that indicate overwatering or underwatering? The consensus on the forums (and my personal experience) is that virtually all houseplants, especially including ficuses, do best in a fast draining well-aerated soil with larger particles than regular potting mix.

Ficuses also need lots of direct light falling on their leaves, preferable from an untinted southwest or south facing window, and do even better when moved outside into direct sun for the summer--their stems thicken, the leaves and branches are more closely spaced, and they produce enough energy to produce multiple branches in response to timely pruning.

There are a lot of theories about what frequency light is best for foliage growth, but sunlight is best for everyone except people with the space and money to set up specialized lights and equipment. Many of us use simple off-the-shelf bright white 5000k-6500k frequency) CFL and LED lightbulbs in fixtures close to the plants, or shop lights with T8 or T5 bulbs.

Ask more questions about recommended growing media, watering, and lighting if you want more info! I've got watering info I can post if you'd like...

YOUR EXPERTISE IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!! THANK YOU!! I live in Las Vegas & considering how hot it gets here, during the summer, hesitant about placing it outside. Perhaps, I could relocate outside early October, but would have to closely monitor, to avoid any freezes going into winter. Perhaps, I'll research adding artificial lighting. An option of relocating it to a sunnier location is hindered by floorplan. I LOVE this plant & really want to save, if possible. What is your recommendation on "when" to prune & a "how to" resource"? Also, do you recommend removing the "offspring" to start a separate plant. Thanks, again!

It's a long post, but I'm a little bored at the moment...

Our heat probably doesn't come close to yours, but my ficus benjaminas did so wonderfully this summer when it was 100+ for a week or so at a time that I think they could tolerate higher temperatures. I did have to keep the plant a few inches back from the railing so the leaves wouldn't get burned when they touched the hot surface. You'd have to acclimate the plant to the sun, check regularly to make sure it's not in trouble, and if it is, just move it to a spot where it would get indirect light for part of the day. Watch the watering, though, because faster growth, dry air, and heat makes them much more thirsty than you'd expect.

Plants regulate their growth based on changes in the length of the day, not based on temperature. Prune between the solstice and the beginning of August if you want closely spaced new growth and multiple branches in response to pruning, because that's when the plant is programmed to put its energy into new branches and leaves. Otherwise it will respond more weakly, giving you leggy growth and fewer branches for rack pruning cut.

Here's the quote from Al I copied from who-knows-where: ""Best is to get into the habit of not pruning anything after August 1st, and pruning off all the leggy growth that occurs during the winter in June. Since the tree produces shorter internodes from Jun 21 until the light wanes, you'll always be keeping only the compact growth."

Here are the top two hits for a search for "pruning ficus lyratas." Both have tons of info on the how and why of pruning to create the shape you want. If your want more, use the link at the top of this page to go to the house plants page, type in the search box, and choose 'search the houseplants forum" from the drop-down to get a ton more threads.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1465570/pruning-ficus-lyrata-to-branch?n=61

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1458685/pruning-ficus-lyrata-fiddle-leaf-fig?n=601

For lighting you can use any lamp that will take a lightbulb. I use 100 watt equivalent CFL and LED bulbs that draw much less than that in 60 watt fixtures with no problems at all. If you want it to look nice you can put your high frequency bulbs in hanging lamps above the tree, and if you're less concerned with looks you can hang a grow light fixture like these above the plant:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-2-ft-2-Light-19-Watt-White-LED-Full-Spectrum-Linkable-Grow-Light-74302/206384735

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-GRW-2-14-CSW-CO-M4-2-Light-14-Watt-White-Fluorescent-Grow-Light-GRW-2-14-CSW-CO-M4/202745704