From my perspective as a Fiddle-Leaf Fig (*Ficus lyrata*), timing is everything. Pruning is a significant event, and I need to be in the right stage of my growth cycle to handle it successfully. The ideal time for you to make your cuts is in the early spring, just as I am awakening from my winter rest period. At this time, the increasing daylight and warmer temperatures signal my internal systems to produce a surge of auxins and other growth hormones. This means I have the maximum energy reserves to heal your pruning wounds quickly and to push out vigorous new growth from the nodes you leave behind. Pruning me in late fall or winter is ill-advised; I am in a state of dormancy, my energy is conserved for basic survival, and I will struggle to heal, leaving me vulnerable to disease and shock.
Before you make a single cut, understand why you are doing it. From my point of view, a purposeful prune is a beneficial one. Are you trying to control my height because I am brushing against your ceiling? Are you aiming to encourage me to become bushier and less "leggy" by promoting branching? Or are you simply removing dead, damaged, or diseased leaves to keep me healthy? Each objective may require a slightly different approach, but they all share the same core principle: redirecting my energy. By removing a dominant apical bud (the topmost growing tip), you disrupt the flow of auxins that suppress growth in lower buds. This tells my system to redirect energy to lateral buds, encouraging them to swell and develop into new branches, creating a fuller form.
The technique you use is critical to my health. Please use sharp, sterilized pruning shears or a knife. A clean cut will heal swiftly, while a ragged, crushed tear from dull scissors will be an open invitation for pathogens. My sap is mildly irritating, so you may wish to wear gloves. When cutting a stem to reduce height or encourage branching, always make your cut just above a node. A node is the slightly bumpy area on my stem where a leaf attaches; it is here that latent buds wait for their chance to grow. Make the cut at a slight angle about a quarter-inch above the node. This angled cut helps prevent water from pooling on the wound, which could lead to rot. For simply removing a damaged leaf, you can cut its stem close to the main trunk.
After the prune, I will need a brief period to recover. Do not fertilize me immediately; wait about a month to allow my roots to focus on healing, not processing new nutrients. Place me back in my favorite spot with bright, indirect light and resume your normal watering routine (only when the top inch of soil is dry). Within a few weeks to a month, you should notice small, reddish sheaths called apical sheaths forming at the nodes below your cuts. These will slowly unfurl into brand new leaves and, if you pruned a main stem, likely one to two new branches. This is my positive response, showing that I have successfully redirected my energy and am growing according to your guidance.
