I think you get it find,
@CBarnard. Give it a long time to remove "dead" branches. You'd be surprised at the ability of nature to survive bad events, like being stripped of foliage in a Typhoon.
Elsewhere:
As to "Uh, no don't think that's the way it works. It's simple--ficus grow when they can and conditions are right, same as most tropical plants. They do not become temperate zone trees simply because they're sold at a Walmart in Nebraska."
I guess that starting that gross misrepresentation of what I said with "Uh" is very appropriate. I said they adapt to the conditions they are in. And, EVERY plant goes through a growth cycle which includes: high growth to add foliage; flower and set seed; mature seed; secondary growth that adds foliage and matures next season's buds; quiescence; repeat ad infinitum. Nature or mankind can interfere with the cycle, but the plant will return to the cycle as best they can, when they can.what
The cycle is a function of the existing weather cycles in any given location. I don't know how the cycle works in the zone where there are two summers and two winters each year because the photo-period is longer and intensity of sunlight is higher
every day of the year than it is on the peak day of summer in the Temperate Zones. But, in Nebraska there is one, single yearly cycle and you get one set of figs each year, if you're lucky. In any year where the seed is not matured by the end of the growing season, buds for the next season are concurrently not matured either, such that the following season often has no flowers. This "skipped" year for fruit is common in Apples, and Azaleas, and many oher plants grown north of their native zone, and/or the year following a year with a heavy fruit set.
I can say this in different ways as many times as necessary to get my point across. I'm retired and have all the time in the world...