Nay Nay.
I guess I can't exactly play Satan's advocate...
Thinking....
Lol...it depends on the situation.
It Must.
Each scenario produces 2 completely different results.
Totally different tools.
What type of tree are we building?
Sorce
So, in this case, there is only one question and one scenario and one specific situation; thickening a pencil thick bougainvillea cutting as fast as possible.
Its not that difficult to grasp.
Bougainvillea grow like vines.
They grow very long without thickening much. And we know that the leader branch controls trunk thickening. So, if you cut the leader before the trunk is the size you want, you have to wait for the leader to catch up to the trunk again and start over. And we also know that sacrifice branches help thicken.
Start feeding your tree heavily right now. Once you see about 4 internodes of growth, pinch back to 2 internodes. Pinching it will force backbuds on a healthy plant. The backbuds will produce branches near the base which is the optimal location for a sacrifice branch to thicken the trunk. Once you have your sacrifice branches ready to go, don't pinch again. Just feed like hell, wire movement and feed like hell.
Contrastingly, if you let it grow untouched with no low branches, you will end up making a huge cut that will never heal and it will result in the center of the tree rotting out.
Keep in mind, bougies do not heal for shit. You should not make cuts that are >2". This is why you want the sacrifice branches to thicken the base.
In my photo, this is about 4-5 months of growth with low nitrogen fertilizer and no pinching. Notice the branches are like 3 feet long and slightly thicker (maybe 1.5x) than a pencil?