A month ago I put my second year figs (they were started as scion in Feb of 2011) outside for the first time.  They are growing nicely (picture attached w/ shovel for scale) and already have some little figs showing. 

What should I do? 

Leave them or pick them off? 

These are Black Marseilles figs.  Thanks for the forum's help - these figs are only still alive because of your help!

-Ryan (Maryland)

looks vigorous. I would leave them.

Leave them

I agree, leave them on, but as your trees are still somewhat small you may want to remove some of the newer ones as more form, depending on how fast your tree is growing and how many new figs are formed  

Fantastic fellas ... I'll leave them on (was hoping you'd say that!).  I'm excited to see what kind of crop they produce - they are from Herman's scion.

So the little fig-lets seem to have stopped growing while the plants continue to grow vigorously.  Looking back at my earlier post ...  the little first year figs have been visible for well over a month but not growing.  Is that normal?  All the figs seem to be stuck in growth at the size of the end of my thumb.  Any thoughts?

-Ryan

ryan - its normal. takes about 80 days to eat one of them
good luck
read this also from herman
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Fig-tree-fruit-growing-stages!-5912299

Yes read Hermans post well written and informative on fig growing stages.

Hey Fellas ... thanks for filling me in ... I guess I need to be more patient!  Also, the link doesn't work ... and I've tried searching for Herman's post on the growing stages --- can't seem to find it.  Any more ideas?

(this is Hermans post)
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.
__________________

I've asked some other questions ... and I usually just reply to my last one so those who have helped keep my figs alive can see their progress!

I have Black Marseilles from Herman ... this winter is their first in the ground.  They were started two years ago.  They produced a boat-load of great figs!

It's now getting pretty chilly in Maryland and I'm wondering if I should be doing more to protect my 4 plants.  They are pretty well established - they had 8 great months in the ground.

Should I wrap?  Cover in Leaves?  Let them weather the winter?  I live about 10 miles from the mother tree - I'm hoping not to have to baby these trees too much :)

Thoughts?  Pictures attached so you can see my trees ....

-Ryan

Do something to protect them.  Research.  First year figs in ground in MD are vulnerable to typical lows.

Whatever you do, be prepare to take airlayers for seconds...as you really do not want all those trees growing huge next to the foundation.. after some 10 years or so...they make their way in cracks, pipes, and can be a problem...they look nice now, but you have to really watch for the foundation as well.  yeah protect them, somehow....

I would at least wrap them with some blankets and a tarp for the first couple winters til the branches get thicker. You don't want to chance it now with all that good growth.
Whatever you decide to do I hope they make with no dieback.
Good luck!

How is the mother tree taken care of in winter?  Since they are short, I would mulch heavy and pile leaves on them.  Since the mother tree is growing in the area and has survived.

All-  Thanks for the help - definitely consensus that I need to protect them.  We've come this far - can't kill them now! 

Also, Grasa - thanks for keying me in on the fact they are close to the foundation - not sure what airlayers are but I'll do some looking.  Figure you are telling me to prune aggressively. 

JoAnn ... the original of these figs was discovered 12 or so years ago growing behind the home of a former WW2 soldier ... apparently had brought it back from Europe.  That said, the mother tree had to be large ... definitely much more established and hardy than my little trees.

Again, thanks everyone for the tips ... I'll wrap 'em up this weekend!

-Ryan

Greetings and Happy New Year Ryan,

I too live in Maryland, west of Annapolis area, and I would definitely recommend that you cover/protect your nice trees. I have a Hardy Chicago planted next to our house, corner of the fire place, southeast side of house, and this will be its second winter. The first year I mulched the base heavily, and coiled chickenwire around it, and filled that up with dry leaves. As soon as it got warm in late March, I unovered and it survived well. This Fall, i built a cage around the tree, pulled the branches together, pruned a bit, and have it filled loosely with a nice leaf layer. The top is draped with a tarp to keep heavy rain from soaking the structure.

Given that our temps can drop here, and we can have driving sleet, wind and snow, I would recommend that you give your trees some protection. Why risk it?

Kind regards

Mark - thanks for the ideas on wintering - I like your counsel "why risk it?"  ... well said!  Send me a message sometime if you'd want a clipping of the BM ... as you are pretty close by.