I was keeping notes on fruits development
in my climate and here it is how it goes.

=Stage one:Growing
Embryos as small as a rice seed can be seen at the base of leaves and they grow for 30 days till they get to a stagnant stage.
At stagnant  point depending on cultivar,they can be the size of a Bing cherry,to the size of a sugar pear.

=Stage 2:
Stagnant stage:In this stage they will be for 40 days doing nothing,just hanging on the Branch.

Stage 3:
Getting ripe:When they become older than 70 days,the fruits ,get swollen overnight,and almost double in size changing color from Green to yellowish white,for light skin cultivars and purple, blue, earthy, or black, for Dark cultivars.
After about 5 to 8 days in this stage the fruits droop down become very soft and the skin shrink a little.
This is when the fruit is ripe and can be harvested.
Harvesting differ if people like the fruit totally ripe or only half ripe,as they can be taken out sooner or later off the tree.
Some people like to leave them on till they dry on tree in warm dry climates,but if rain come they can spoil if left too long.
So from inception till ripe it takes 75 to 80 days in my NJ climate.
Hope this will help new Grower figure out when their figs will ripe.

Note:In order for me to insure my fruits will ripe in the Fall:I remove all fruits that are smaller than stagnant stage on August 15,as they will retard the maturation of the fruits that are already in the stagnant stage on that date.

Edit note :The above schedule is true only for main crop fig fruit,starting on new growth.
Breba grows and develop faster,on older branches,and they in fact are fig flower,not fruits.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!   I was beginning to think my cherry sized figs were just flat going quit doing anything.  I didn't know that they just hang out for so long.  I SOOO needed to hear that.

You are appreciated!!!!

Hi Herman, mine are starting to ripen as I write!  I have new growth, 4 branches growing on the lower 12" of the tree.  These new branches range in size from 8" to 3" long. 

Since figs develop fruit on new growth, will these new branches produce figs since I have main crop that is starting to ripen now?

In Texas the Summer is long so I can see that it is possible fruits will grow and ripe on the Branches growing now.
It is not a done deal till you see the fruits,and also if they will have time to ripe ,from that point on.

Thanks Herman, any ideas on the variety I have?  Everyone seems to agree it's NOT Celeste.

Great notes,Herman.Thank you !

Herman,

So you dont pinch off new figs after date "x"? You just let them all grow until mid-august?

I did pinch off them continuously in the previous years but that aproach is too much time consuming,so This year I will wait till August 15,and at that point any fruits that are smaller,younger than the figs in the stagnant stage will be removed.
This way it is easier for me to recognize them.
Of course after August 15,I will need to keep removing all the brand new embryos,that will come up,so the removal of young figs continue,to the end of season.
On August 15 another work must be done on the fig trees:The removing of any branch or suckers,that does not have any figs on them.
This need to be done in order for the sun to penetrate the canopy better and ripe fruits faster.
Those Branches were helping the fig tree cope with 100+ F temperature in July and first half of August but at this point they are of no more need as the second part of August the Summer is much cooler with temperature under 90F.

thank you H2

I'm glad someone takes notes. I've been wondering if some of the figs starting to grow now would ripen. You've taken the guess work out of it now. Thank you for sharing that information with us. I'm sure a lot of other people have been wondering about how long it takes for a fig to ripen from start to finish.
Once again, THANK YOU! for the detailed info.

Herman, if I have embryos at this date 7/1, I have a fair chance of them getting to the ripening stage?

The answer is yes,no doubt you will ripe fruits,yes.

I'm a little confused about this; if the tree continues to grow and produce figs, why and how do some varieties have a 2nd crop?  isn't it a continuation of the tree growing and yielding fruit similar to indeterminate tomatoes? 

Good to know info, Herman. Thanks! In your research, which variety did you find ripened its main crop fastest and which was slowest and by how much?

I was about to ask how to deal with my very first crops and you gave a wonderful description of how to handle them.  Thank you.

Dennis

Common fig trees can possible have 2 crops.
I say possible because some only have one crop (main),with no Breba crop!
Breba crop usually small in numbers and it staRT growing, Late in Winter,on old Branches,and ripe in July.
Main crop ,grows on new Branches later start in late May and continue to grow till frost.
Of course new embryos will come up, till frost,but only the early ones get ripe in most climates,the rest needs to be removed out by Grower in the manner described above ,if they come out late and there will be no time to ripe till frost come.

Well Ruben:Not all my tree are adults,to know when they ripe their main crop fruits.
A fig tree is adult after 7 years just like Grape vine do.
That is when it set fruits properly at the earliest time possible.
When young it set fruits later than normal and so one can't judge if the cultivar is late or early.
If it is infected with Fig mosaic virus,it will forever form fruit embryos later than a healthy fig.
Judging from the few cultivars I have over 5 years old,the earliest to ripe are:
Malta Black
Tacoma Violett
Gino's fig
Marseilles black VS
Sal (Gene strain,)
Hardy Chicago
Improved Celeste(O'Rourke not)
Atreano
Stella
These are written down in order that they produced visible Embryos,in late May and first part of June.
All of them have Fruits in the stagnant stage,now(some fruits,not all)
Last year with all that rain in the wrong time the first that got ripe was ST Anthony!,this year is not that advanced but it does have fruits of cherry size.(surprise)

Herman lists Malta Black top of his list and in its second season here i will taste some ripe figs a good grower and i have a very good feeling about this fig in my climate in future seasons.
Also he states when tree is young crop comes later and as it matures they start to come earlier.
He is spot on.

great thread, thank you Herman!

Thanks, Herman!

Martin:Malta Black climbed up in first place on it's own merit,now that is 5 years old.
It is a  fig that is still a secret how good it is in taste and Flavor,and how easy is to grow.
It is time the secret comes out!
Here is Malta Black:Notice the fruits in stagnant stage large size already!
Notice the Large three lobes leaf and lack of any disease.
Pix is taken today,tree in ground,spent Winter with mulch under it only.

Great looking tree Herman, as usual. This variety does sound like a winner. 

Thanks Herman,

Never knew about stages. I just thought they kept getting bigger till they were ripe. Really good news as I have some quarter size figs that have been that way about amonth and I thought they were not ripening. Now maybe!

Herman,

This is my first year of growing fig tree, your OP was very helpful. Regarding the color of fruit, my supposedly Black Mission and Black Jack trees (planted May 2011) had their first crop last month but during stage 3 they were yellowish white, is it possible for these cultivar to be in this color?.

Thanks.

Herman,

Thank you for sharing the information.  It is great to learn the different stage of fig development. 

For the Malta Black, is it going to perform well in mild summer weather, average high is only 76 degree.  Thanks!