Has my bonsai "expert" neighbor just given my ginseng ficus a death sentence??

[L.Bailey]

Hello I'm fairly un experienced with ficus but I've had these to for a while and for the most part they've done great but the past couple months I've noticed that while one has continued to grow just fine but the other there's been literally zero amount of new growth and I've not changed there water schedule or lighting or anything like that I do know I my soil isn't exactly what I should be using but besides that haven't moved em or anything so I was telling my neighbor who has some ficus about the lack of progress with it and he convinced me to let him do some pruning and that was gonna turn it around and spring into rapid new growth but now that I'm looking at what's been done I'm really nervous that it's gonna be the death of it lol I'm hoping that he done right and I'm just nervous but my concern is mainly that the stress that was just put on the plant was just adding to a previous unknown issue seeing as how the one right beside it seems to be doing great so if anyone could looked at the images of em and throw Any info or advice my was I would be very grateful for any help??

 

[L.Bailey]

Forgot to add this image to the message to lol

 

[SexyGArdener]

It depends… but I’m going to give your “expert” the benefit of the doubt since he/she must have understood your situation and the trees’ condition & environment far better than what you’ve presented on this forum.

I’m also too tired and lazy to ask basic probing questions to further assist in the early hours this morning, but I’m sure others will chime in sometime later on today.

 

[Japonicus]

@L.Bailey I'll be the 1st to admit I suck at indoor plants, and it looks like your friend
trimmed off yellowing leaves. Again, I know little about indoor plants, but you
need to provide some back history

I've had these to for a while

I would fill in the blanks here. For how long , the environment they're in including
if you are using an indoor grow tent? The lighting (watts, and Kelvin) and distance from lights to plant, humidity...
Also, edit your details in your account by clicking your avatar/name at the top right of the page
and include a general location, and USDA grow zone you're located in.
That will better help general and specific answers tailored to your location, not only in the future
but maybe even for this query. Cheers, and welcome to the "club".

Have you closely checked for insects?

 

[LuZiKui]

Most healthy ficus are good about backbudding. Not sure how much you know, but backbudding is when you get new growth shoots on a branch after you trim it. I wouldn't be concerned about the cuts that your neighbor made. Your tree should throw out new growth. If you don't get any new growth then you have a bigger problem with the tree's health. You'll need to take a closer look at your watering, soil, or for potential pests/issues. What are the blue things in the soil?

Also you should get your keyboard looked at, your period key doesn't seem to be working

 

[Shibui]

It's very hard to kill a ficus by pruning. From the photos your helpful neighbour was quite conservative so no cause for concern from the trim.
There's more likely to be some underlying problem that has caused lack of growth. Given similar conditions that's unlikely to be the problem but nutrient could be. How often are you fertilizing?
Soil may also be part of the problem. Watering is very dependant on soil so if the 2 trees are in different soil then watering them both the same could cause problems with one. Definitely check soil moisture to make sure that soil is not staying wet all the time for one tree. This is the biggest cause of problems for indoor plants.