Thank you very much for watching. My Ficus petiolaris are growing well. I had three in one large pot and they grew quite a bit this year. I may separate and chopped down the larger one next year to start training them as bonsai
You want to leave those leaf stalk mostly because if you rip them off, you may damage the nodes where new shoots can grow from. This wouldn't be good if you are tryibg to achieve ramifications
It depends where you live. But generally speaking, defoliation is best done with tropical Ficus at any time during growing season when they are vigorously growing. So usually from Spring-summer. However, as long as you can provide plenty of light and warmth, you can defoliate at any time.
