Is there a pretty much standard or set progression of changes in the characteristics of the fig fruit as it ripens?  In general there is swelling, there is color change, there is moistening of the interior, there is development of sweetness and/or flavor...but do they happen in any particular order?  And is that order pretty much set, or are there variations?  Can you have some characteristics change but not others, depending on the tree and the situation?
Jim

I'm not sure where it is at the moment, but there is a thread on here that discusses the stages.  It was updated not too long ago.

in summary, the embroy forms and grows for about 1 month (give or take a few days), followed by a stagnate stage for about 1 month where they do not grow any larger.  Then the Swell and Ripening stage for  about a week to 10 days, if i remember correctly.   So once you see a stagnant fig start swelling, you got about a week or so before it should be ripe.

If I can find the thread, I'll post back here..

Here we go. It was Herman's post.<br /><br />

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/fig-tree-fruit-growing-stages-5912299

Dallas,

Thanks for the link to Herman's valuable information.

I vote that every year, at the beginning of each July, Herman's, "Fig Development Schedule" should automatically be posted onto the forum.  It's a good reminder for all growers, but especially for the newer fig growers.  Once Herman's information gets buried, then who will know where to find it?


Frank

That's good info.
So, here's something odd that's happening to me.
  I have a tree in a container, an unk Celeste type, that broke bud in early March.  It grew steadily and happily indoors in a south facing window all spring.  The weather in May was horrible here in NJ, and all through May and June I had Ambrosia borer beetles swarming in my yard, so I did not put the tree outside.  I got all my other trees out by the end of June...but I just dragged my feet on this Celeste for some reason.  It was actually doing great inside with lots of new growth and nearly 50 main crop figs past the embryo stage.
  Fast forward to a week ago.  The tree was basically in a holding pattern with the figs slowly growing or holding steady at a small size (a bit smaller than a bing cherry, to use Herman's terminology.)  I was overdue to put it outside, but I was leaving for a week of vacation, so I didn't want to chance it.  I just gave it a good drink of water before leaving.
  When I returned a week later (Saturday), I found that some of the figs had dropped (darn Celeste!!!), and some were droopy looking on the tree.  The droopy ones and at least one of the dropped ones had an odd color -- they were changing from their previous pale green to something more like a pale yellow, tending toward white-ish, with just a touch of brown.  (This fig usually ripens to purplish-brown color.)  They do not appear to have swelled at all, and except for the odd color, the droopiness looked just like the drooping of a ripening fig.
  A handfull more of the droopy figs have dropped over the last two days.  Any other time I've had a fig drop, when I ripped it open to take a look, it was dry and yucky.  These droopy ones, however, were moist and jammy looking when I cut them open. The skins tended to be tough and the flesh near the skin wasn't ripe, but the interior of the figs were great looking -- just as I'd expect a ripe fig to be.  They did not have the sweetness I expect from this celeste, but they did have a little sweetness.  My daughter detected hints of strawberry, watermelon and honey, but not strong.  (I tasted a touch of strawberry in one but nothing in the others.)  The taste was not intense by any means, but it was not exactly bland either.  Apparently they tasted good enough for my daughter to eat them all one by one when I wasn't looking ;-)
  Here's additional information that is probably pertinent here:
  I usually keep my house temperature in the high 70's.  With the air conditioning turned off the daytime temps probably hit the low 80s.  (i.e. not exactly hot, but hotter than usual.)
  Although it is in a south facing window, it doesn't really get much direct sun.  It gets lots of indirect bright light due to south, east and west facing windows and two overhead skylights.

  Did these figs decide to start ripening, but not swell or color-up properly due to the lack of sufficient sunlight?  I'm really surprised they did anything -- I expected them to remain in their holding pattern until I got back from vacation.  Did their internal clocks just go off while I was away?
Jim

Lack of proper heat? Reduced water while you were gone? Fig trees don't do well I doors, as far as the fruit is concerned.

Here's the way I approach fig growing:  Try to duplicate growing conditions found in the Mediterranean climates, i.e. sun, heat, soils, water, etc.  Conditions inside a home rarely even come close to meeting these requirements, especially light.  Also, a temperature differential of about 10-15 degrees between night and day, is essential for trees and most other plants.  Plants need that cool, humid, nighttime "rest".  High, and dry, day temps without much of a temp. drop at night usually leads to stress.  Regardless, light/sun streaming in from a window is only a small percentage of the light levels that a plant will get when grown outside.  Light quality also changes when it passes through window glass.

Trees go into "survival mode" and drop any extra baggage, like figs, when stressed.  Figs can also reach a certain stage, then stall, and never reach maturity if growing conditions are off.

My guess....cultural conditions = dropped figs.


Frank

I definitely agree that these were non-optimal fig growing conditions.  I did not set out to grow this tree indoors...it just never made it outside for a variety of reasons/circumstances.
I'm not too surprised about the fruit drop per se...
What I do find surprising is that the tree started to ripen these figs at all!  I had hoped to go away for a week with the tree remaining in status quo, then put it outside to enjoy some ripe figs a month from now.
I'll post some pictures later today.  You'll be surprised how good the interior of these little figs look.
Jim

My guess is that while you were gone the internal "timer" went off, so the figs tired to ripen even without proper cultural conditions.

...better late than never, here are some pix:
First, some shots of the figs on the tree.
   

The pictures make the figs look browner than they actually were.  They were really more of a pale whitish yellow with just a touch of brown.  They look almost appetizing in these pictures...less so in real life.
   

On the other hand, inside they were moist and juicy, jammy in texture (but not in sweetness).
   

And for comparison, here's some figs from the same tree last year:
  


Now the tree is outside in part shade.  Hopefully the heat will help the flavors develop more, and in time I'll move it into the sun and get some good color on the figs.
Jim