Hi, all. Newb here.

I broke down and bought a Ischia from the local Lowes and repotted it. And now I'm wondering if I should prune it to my desired shape, or leave it alone until next Fall/Spring. It seems as if its Spring growth is already vigorous (I'm in Florida). I want this to keep a shrub-like shape. So, would you trip the leaves of the 6 or so main branches, or leave it alone until Fall/Spring? Heck, any advice in general would be great.

Here is a close-up of the growth:
 


By the way, does anyone care to speculate how old this thing is? 



My Frenchie and Fig:
 

Also, please let me know if anyone has any trouble viewing the images. :)

No images

And now?

Nice looking tree. You may want to wait for th real fig experts to chime in, but generally to encourage branching u prune 6 or more inches off the top when dormant. Pinching the tips often results in just one new leader, generally speaking.

Great looking dog!

Probably 2 yrs old, could be younger in Central Florida, you basically have the equivalent of three growth seasons down there in most years.  The trees I brought with me from Florida really slowed down after the first year out here.

I think I'd let it go the first year....let those little trunks get some heft on them. I experimented with pinching young plants to shape them early on, but probably the traditional method of letting the trunks get some thickness to them before whacking away is the better idea. Thick trunks can produce strong new growth, so after the first year, don't be afraid to prune hard (if that's what your chosen shape requires). As for the little tiny "branchlets," feel free to snip them off if they don't seem to be doing much....chances are they might never produce: you're more apt to get good branches from future pruning than from little spindly side growth. 

i would wait a yr or two... or when the tree reach the height you want. or, if you are good at this kinda things, start shaping now. i'm really bad at shaping trees, so i do lot of stupid things and all my trees look funny.

Hi dizzymizzy,
From the dirt there seem to come 2 stems - corresponding to two cuttings put in the ground. So I would tare them apart and make 2 pots/trees .
The reason for that is the second stem counting backward from the right.
It is thick and vigorous. But because it is placed in the middle of the pot, it should be trimmed.
So I would make 2 pots, and let them grow and see how they grew at the end of the season - so no  trimming no pinching for now due to the small size of the stems.

Thanks, everyone. I will wait to prune them.

JDSFRANCE: I picked this one from the store because it looked like it had the most growth and cuttings, but I wasn't sure. If this indeed has two cuttings, and it wouldn't harm anything if I took them apart, I will separate the right one from the plant and repot it for two trees.

Just for argument's sake, does anyone think I should not split this into two trees?

It is very possible that the smaller right side trunk is attached at a below-ground level node to the left hand trunk, and it might not have much separate root mass of it's own; separating them if that is the case could kill the right side part.  I suppose you could gently probe or remove a little soil in the area and find out for sure, but that would be safer when dormant, I think (I'm not a fig expert but extrapolating from other growing experience). 

After inspecting the plant, I am hesitant to break it apart. I will leave it intact, repot into a larger container, and prune during the Florida "winter." :-)

Pruning it depends on what shape you desire and inground or in pot culture.
It may need to go in bigger container and or need root work when it goes back dormant if not going inground.