I don't know if it's the nature of the beast or if I was just not aware.  Before the breba ripened I noticed there wasn't much new growth.  Now that I picked it (and ate it of course)  I see new growth spurts along the terminal (I think that's the right word) end of the branches.  New leaves coming out. More branching near the bottom of the tree also.

Is this normal?  The tree takes a break from growing to ripen the ONE breba then continues when the breba is gone?

I have several larger figs of the same green variety and those with breba had limited growth (but still had some) with the breba crop while the ones without the breba have really taken off. I don't know if I can attribute it to anything besides the existence of the breba crop as at least 2 are the exact same age with the main difference being the existence of a breba crop.

Very interesting observations.  I hope others will  also inform us of their experiences and their observations.  The noted growth delay as the breba ripened, might be why herman2 and other growers advise not allowing the breba to ripen in short-season areas.   Main-crop figs are delayed, and will not ripen before the onset of cool weather.

Good catch, JoAnn/Matt.  I learn every time I read postings on this forum.  Thanks.

Frank

I had breba, not ripe on my VdB, and many, many main crops starting next to the Breba.  Breba was delish!  But main crop was there prior to me taking the first Breba.   The baby figs were already there when I harvested the Breba.
Suzi

Once in a while i miss a breba early in season and just leave it but it does not slow growth on my plants.
If i were to leave all on that may be another story in my case and my zone.
This season i have 1 large one on my Mission tree so i leave.

Plants are fueled by energy, which the leaves and sometimes other green tissues provide. The energy isn't distributed evenly throughout the plant. Energy 'sinks' are plant parts that call for energy. The most powerful sinks are flowers, fruit, leaves, stems, then roots. Like animals, the fundamental purpose for being is to pass their genes along; so it's not a surprise that the plant is genetically programmed to allocate the greatest amount of energy to the inflorescence, which in figs is both flower and fruit. This is especially true when other factors that stress the plant are in play. You might think of it as added stress causing the plant to "feel" it's threatened, and that as its last act it needs to make sure it fulfills it's reason for being, so it funnels a maximum amount of energy into producing fruit. If you remove the inflorescence/fruit, the next most powerful sink would be foliage.

Al 

I haven't observed it in figs, but my blueberries first flower and bear fruit, and only after the fruits ripen and are picked does vegetative growth take off. With bbs the advice always is to remove all fruits/flowers from young plants to encourage leaf/stem growth. Of course, that's easier to say than to do.  

I'd like to clarify my opening post.  The tree leafed out beautifully, then for about a week up to the breba ripening there wasn't much new growth on the upper part of the tree.  Branches had already started on the lower part near the ground.

After I picked the breba, there has been a lot of new growth!

I am pleased to see branching on the lower part of the tree - it will help the trunk increase in size and give me some options about how I will prune and shape it for the future. 

Decisions decisions.