The plan is to repot into a 10-12" pot, in soil with extra perlite.

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buy a good media ... instead of winging it on your own .... though im sure Al will tell you how to make one.. but you will end up with a LOT of it ....

i would propagate the growth tip.. and once that had roots.. i would probably throw out the other 4 feet of the plant ... though i would give it a few months.. to see if it resprouted below the cut..

you are not going to get it to releaf down the bare trunk.. imo ...

no matter how much you change it.. you still have your gift.. but in a younger more vibrant age ...

ken

when you watch some of these.. watch the size of the cuttings most people use... smaller cuttings usually root faster .. and easier

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Fiddle+Leaf+Fig+propagation&t=ffcm&iax=videos&ia=videos

This FLF ...... was a gift to my boss maybe 10 years ago? And has been growing in that 8" pot ever since, and in pretty low light. The first thing to understand is, root congestion can be a severe limitation in terms of growth, vitality (health) and eye appeal. It also limits the plant's ability to defend itself against insect attack and disease pathogens. Potting up does not relieve root congestion. It's a half measure that only allows the plant to grow a little closer to the genetic potential Mother Nature originally provided the plant. A full repot includes bare-rooting, root pruning, and a change of soil. Potting up ensures the limitations imposed by root congestion remain with the plant forever, even if was to be planted out (in the landscape), while a full repot ensures all limitations stemming from root congestion are nullified. A plant regularly repotted has many times the growth potential as plants regularly potted up .... not to mention the size of the pot can be much smaller when you practice repotting as opposed to potting up.

Too, the size of the pot you choose will be based in small part on the size of the root mass after the repot, and in large part by your choice of grow media. I have more than 40 ficus of 12-15 species in pots, and all are in very fast draining and highly aerated grow media.

That the plant hasn't been getting enough light is clear. The story is told in the length of the plant's internodes (distance between leaves), and root congestion acts to SHORTEN internodes, so who knows how long they might be if the plant wasn't rootbound?

The plan is to repot into a 10-12" pot, in soil with extra perlite. But what should I do after that? Can I encourage any more leaves lower down, cut it back, somehow make it more compact and leafy? You can do all of those things, but the first priority should be putting a plan into practice which elevates the level of the plant's vitality. Healthy plants respond best (most enthusiastically) to pruning. Low vitality plants' response to pruning is normally quite subdued. Getting your plant to back-bud low in the trunk is as easy as pruning low on the trunk; alternately, you could repot, move the plant outdoors into more sun and air movement, fertilize at luxury levels, prune hard, and hope for side branching low on the trunk. The later method is not certain, the former is. Or would that be asking too much of it? Although it's all tall and skinny now, it still looks like it has enough oomph left to get a better shape and keep growing. The level of vigor a plant has is a genetic trait which was endowed by mother nature. No matter how sick or well your plant is, it's vigor potential is constant. Vitality, on the other hand, is a measure of how well your plant is dealing with the cultural conditions under which it grows. So, your plant has about the same potential as every other FLF to become a beautiful specimen. Your job is to identify what's holding your plant back and fix those cultural conditions that are asking the plant to operate at the limits of what it's programmed to tolerate.

FWIW, I wouldn't consider trying to start a cutting or throwing the plant out; reasons being: A) Cuttings of plants with low energy levels usually fail. I can explain why if you're interested. B) Your plant still has the same genetic potential as it always had. To realize more of it's potential, all you need to do is improve cultural conditions (including fertilizing, if you're not). You already have 2 trunks of different diameters. The plan would be to reinvigorate the plant, then prune so the thick trunk is the tallest and the thin trunk is 1/2-2/3 the ht of the thicker. In nature, the taller trunk would always be the thicker. Let me know if you want to make a plan to reset your plant's course. I'd be glad to help.

Al

Sooooo ...... any progress or improvement?

Al