look, guys, i don't like bothering you about silly stuff , but i was really looking forward to my first ever

fresh fig. there are 2 figs on my paradisio, and they look riper than bullets pics of ripe paradisio.

they are bigger than a golf ball. the bottom 3/4 is orange yellow, top still green. they are very soft.
i just tried to pick one, but it wouldn't come off. i thot they come off easy?

am i supposed to cut them off with a knife, or are they not ready?

ince there are only 2, i need to get at least 1 right. if i had 6, i wouldn't have bothered you, i'd just have cut 1 off.

 anyway, i never had a fresh fig and wanna taste 1 that's ripe., so spare me a minute and tell me what to do please

Can you post a photo?  Can you protect the fig from critters?  Is it hanging loosely?  Wrinkled?

i don't know how to post or even take pics. the drought drove the birds away so they will stay there til i pick 'em. last week they were green and hard, yesterday i saw they were soft. no wrinkles. its hanging like always.

should i let them get wrinkles?

as eagar as i am, i don't wanna wreck my first taste, that's why i posted 2 minutes after it wouldn't come off.

oh! yesterday, the bottom half had changed color, today it's more than half. is the whole ting supposed to cbange color?

It should hang like this - totally limp.

thanks bob. i'll stop trying to pick it till it does.

hard to wait tho.

All or almost all should change color.  The stem wont change but the neck should.  There are other critters besides birds.

well, i got a guard snake now. he suns by my trees and when i wanna tend them, i say :GO AWAY SNAKE and he does [true story]

i've just decided that there are lots of different trees called paradisio. pete's bullet8] were green when ripe, mine is turning orange yellow.

Some figs fall off when ripe - that is, they come loose very easily. Other figs, even when they are fully ripe almost need to be cut off the tree. They just hold on tight. You have to experiment with each variety and get to know its characteristics. And then with the next variety, you start the learning curve all over again.

FYI, you are way more likely to pick too soon than to pick too late.

thanks jon. i'll wait. i don't wanna mess this up.

Susie: Paradiso shrivels up nicely on the bush. Mine sometimes hang limp for a week or longer before I pick them. But it does depend on variables like weather, humidity, water status of the plant, etc. On a high vigor, high water plant the figs of Paradiso might be too big to dry down as much as I like. Smaller figs grown at a lower water level will shrivel up faster.

I picked a big Strawberry Verte today and dried it in the sun for about 6 hours to get the right water level. I cut it in half and covered with floating row cover in a metal pan. Tasted great this evening.

Wait until it stops changing color and is really shriveled up.

i shall steve, but which paradisio do you have? i've been googling paradisio and it looks like there are at least 3 totally different trees going by that name.

confusing much?

Susie:

My Paradiso and Strawberry Verte were both from Jon. I can barely tell them apart. Paradiso may be a little bigger and slightly more likely to get moldy. Neither is bad in that department.

this name thing is insane.

OMGOMGOMG!
Susie's hovering! LOL
I know how you feel, Susie. I've never tasted VDB, and
I stare at the few I left on my young plant, urging them on!
"Come on!" I tell them.
I can totally relate, it's like when I was little, and I wanted
to pick the scabs so bad!

...but on a serious note...
If you stick your fingernails into the stem and give a little twist, the
fig will come loose. It's ok to pull the fig away from its stem and tear it
If you'll be eating it fresh. If you plan on pulling the perfect looking
fig from your Paradiso, practice by pulling some leaves off your
fig tree, grabbing the leaf right where it meets the branch, and pulling
straight down towards the root of the plant. That should give you
a good sense of how the fig dislodges.
You can also use a knife or scissors, what's left on the plant falls off by itself.

Bob,

Limp it is

thanks for the support ruut,  yeah rafed, i'm going for the limp thing i was just confused by the name/variety problem'

as usual. u guys saved me.

Susie,

I was picking on Bob. Glad you didn't get what I meant;)

oh! blush!

Figs and Bizkits should be limp.  Not everything.  At least not always.  Here's a fig I'm waiting for.  It's starting to droop but it'll be days or even a week before it's ready.

bob, whats a bizkit?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limp_Bizkit

I can't say I know any of their songs but they are famous and I've heard of them.

Well?  Ripe yet?  How was it?