wish indoors were brighter than outdoors ...

this is the most asked question in this forum... did you scroll down at all and see what has been offered previously .. as a starting point.. ??

bottom line.. and presuming its straight up ... decide on a height.. cut off the top .. it will bud below the cut and you will probably end up with at least two stems after that...

and then propagate what you cut off ...

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=fiddle+leaf+fig+propagation&t=ffcm&iax=videos&ia=videos

Ok if my question annoyed you, why even answer? I am totally new to this app and I am seeing that there are a lot of really angry, rude people on here.

Not all fit that mold, L.S.. Even the most patient of our members get prickly at times when faced with intentional annoyance, but most of us aren't prickly by nature. Welcome to the forums. There are a lot of knowledgeable folks here who would be happy to offer their input.

If you plan on your tree being a single trunk specimen, a good rule of thumb is, consider the maximum ht at which you would like to maintain the tree, then sever the trunk at 2/3 of that ht. So, if you want the tree to be 6 ft tall when it matures, prune it back to 4 ft. If 5 ft (60"), prune it back to 40", etc. This formula allows for 2/3 trunk and 1/3 canopy.

If you want your tree to be a multi-trunked planting, you will want the trunks to originate as close to the soil line as possible; so, for a multi-trunked specimen - prune the plant back so only the bottom 3 nodes are left. 'Nodes' are identifiable by the fact they will either have a leaf attached at the nodes, or there will be a scar where a leaf was formerly attached. Here (below) you see a Ficus benghalensis (Audrey) with a leaf scar facing you about a fourth of the way up from the bottom and suppressed (sort of dormant) buds above the scars. The scars, buds, and leaves appear at nodes.

If you move your focus to the branch just up from the bottom of the image, you'll notice the unopened leaf bud at the end of the branch. Immediately behind that leaf is the branch apex, where extension growth occurs - the branch grows longer. A chemical is synthesized in that area, the apex, and it's job is to suppress buds (keep them from growing) below/ behind the apex. If you remove the apex or prune the branch (which also removes the apex) some of the buds will activate and new branches will grow in the crotch (axil) of the leaf. Here is a Ficus microcarpa cutting I pruned to force branches to grow in the crotch of each leaf:

The small protrusions in the crotch of each leaf are the beginnings of new branches, forced to grow by removing the end of the branch used for the cutting.

I'll leave you to think about what I said, but I'll keep an eye out for any questions you might have. I have many Ficus trees in pots, some of which are as old as 35 years, and most of which were grown from cuttings, which is an option for you as well.

Al