I was given this Fig in a pot by a local nursery. He thought it might be a Brown Turkey but was unsure. I'd like some advice on it. Ideally I'd like to make it in the shape of a tree, single possibly multi truck. I'm thinking of leaving it potted just repotting to a larger pot. It's in a 5 gallon pot currently and very lankey. Here's where the advice comes in.

When it's dormant should I prune it down some to make it less lanky?

If I prune off the only wood it has down to a third or so will I kill it? It's 34 inches from the soil line to the tip. 

If pruning is advised how much can I safely remove?

Thank you in advance

Once dormant, do as you wish. You will not kill this tree. I have pruned down many lanky figs like this down to 18 or 20 inches and they come back with a vengeance. I think you are doing yourself a great favor to keep it one trunk and branching very low should you decide to keep it in a pot or in the ground. Ideally, I would airlayer the upper half of this tree and then you will have two trees. The one you airlayered and the one still in the pot which you can prune as far down as you want. It's really very easy to do.

Thanks for the response leon_edmond! Are you saying to air layer it before pruning? Would there be enough time to do that before it goes dormant? 

That looks like a fig i just bought from a nursery online.. I wont buy there again, I guess you could say i got burnt, lol

You can cut it down to within 6" off the ground and it will send out beautiful shoots assuming it has a nice root system. You won't kill it.

Ramv i just may do that! It looks like it needs a fresh start and a new pot too.

Right, give it a bigger pot with fresh planting medium, prune back to 2-3 buds, fertilize once or twice in the next month, and water well through September.  There's not much left of this year's growing season, so they're limits to what you can accomplish.  You should be able to get a much better root system and the beginning of a strong central leader.  Then next year, it'll explode.

And find a place to store it that is not too warm.  That leggy growth can result from a winter spent in a warm dark place.

Hi,
Your tree is not dormant since you are in the North hemisphere .
It lacked cares and lost most leaves from lack of water, but I still see one leaf at the top.
The choice is yours, but I wouldn't cut now.
Give it fertilizer and water and let it grow what it can.
Years before, I had some be abused like that and they grew new leaves as soon as they got water again.
Next February, once really dormant, you would then cut it to 1' of height for instance.
You could then root the cutting - perhaps cut it in two to get two cuttings.
Good luck!

Retrospect, I think jdsfrance has some good advice. You need to care for this tree to make sure it survives before dormancy. Like he suggested, water it well and keep the soil in the pot moist. Give it a little Miracle Gro and  keep it out of direct sunlight. Then once it is fully dormant, prune it down. Probably not a good thing to attempt an air layer at this point. Keep us posted.

I don't understand why you would want to prune it back if you want it to grow in tree form?

Give it some fresh potting soil, water, and sunlight and see how it does. I agree that it might be smartest to let it grow and trim it back this winter if that is your goal.

I bought a potted tree that come with a similarly sized sucker. I removed it and potted it. It stalled with one small leaf for a while while it built roots. In the last couple of weeks it has put out several new leaves and seems to be doing well now.

Thank you for all the suggestions. After reading through them here's what I'm going to do.

Keep it watered/fertilized, protect it from Arkansas' hot sun and wait for it to go dormant. While dormant I'm going to prune it back to eliminate the 3 foot lanky growth to a much shorter stout potted Fig that will fit in to where it's going to live on our front deck. I could leave it as it is and let it soar high into the sky but I don't want that kind of potted Fig.

Now I'm on to researching potting soil suggestions and oh my..there's a lot! Where I live I have access to either a junk bag of potting soil or Miracle Grow or High end Soils from the local Hydroponic store. That's about all of my choices. My budget is in the Miracle Grow category. I'll amend it with some perlite to help with drainage.

I also have strong feelings about using organic fertilizers and wonder..is Miracle Grow Soil considered Organic? Are there any other Fig growers here that use Blood, bone, feather meals? Are there specific ferts to use in this genre? I've had good success on other plants using Fish and Seaweed liquid additions in water. The Seaweed used as a foliar spray. I'm thinking of using those on my Fig.

This forum is awesome and all of you have so much knowledge and kindness towards us newbs..thank you for that!