Here's my first HC,

 

Okay! I keep hearing that it's not ripe till it droops. But then, I also hear the it doesn't reach full sweetness till it cracks and wrinkles, or a bird pecks it, or whatever. People keep saying, "I should have left it another day or two". Why? What does it look like when it's right at it's peak?

A quick answer please, I don't know how much longer I can hold the wife back from this one.

looks good to me,,,,pick it before the birds or the wife gets it!!!

Tom, Sometimes they don't crack. I'd leave it until the eye is facing the ground. It's getting close.

If you are getting forecast for rain you should also pick it as close to the time before the rain as you can, I only mention this as we are supposed to be getting storms this way tomorrow, not sure in they will hit kentucky as well but just food for thought.

If only i could wait for my figs to droop all the way down.
hopefully next season ill be able to eat more figs and wait more in the process.

In a greenhouse, no rain, I leave mine about 5-7 days longer. 2-3 days would probably be enough to get essentially the same eating experience.

Under the right conditions they could be dried some inside after picking.

First, it's time to protect it from critters.  Second, if you eat it now you will never know the true joy that is eating a ripe fig.  See this thread

http://www.figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/trio-adriatic-dk-green-ishia-sampling-7011713

for photos of the drooping and the reaction of someone who tried it.

Hi Greysmith,
Your fig looks good already.
People often say the fig could have used some more days because they have split the fig open.
Looking at the inside you can better see that ... From the outside it is hard to know, but with experience you'll learn to know when is the best moment to take the figs.
Touching the fig to see if it softened is what I do. If you have critters around it is time to protect that fig ...

I often advise people to have several trees to be able to have faster more figs to sample and sooner be able to taste good figs !
Good luck !

If you touch it and if falls off in your hand, then it is "dead ripe." I would cover that one with a newspaper and clothespin or an organza bag for a few days. Unless, as Chivas said, it is about to rain. If so, pick it and know that the next ones will be even better.

Hey Grey, it becomes second hand after a while. Hangs like a hangmans noose. "Very soft" to the touch. Most dark figs I have
will develop cracks. Some green will also. See this for cracks      http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/maltese-falcon-7032556?pid=1283874827#post1283874827

Thanks Guys,  Those pictures really helped. The wife was the main threat, and she's agreed to wait... a day. I wrapped paper (clothes-pinned to the stem) around it to discourage birds, and piled what screens and such that I had handy around for critters. Won't stop a determined squirrel or raccoon, but that's an area, a long way from good cover, where I work a lot (under pussycat supervision) and what weeds and clutter there is there is home to at least one big rat snake. I saw it less than 20 ft from that fig just yesterday. I saw a smaller one in the garlic bed a couple of days ago. And, found a nest where at least 8 had hatched earlier in the summer (again within 20 ft.). I think my main protection is that none of the critters around here knows what a fig is. I got many handfuls of figs off a potted fig on the open porch last year with no sign of any bird damage. Of course that bush had the cat's favorite shade.

We had traces of rain yesterday, at 70% chance. It's 30% tonight and 60% tomorrow. Not enough to worry about. Dug a couple of holes today and the ground is bone dry. I'd be happy to trade a less flavorful fig for a good rain.

Along the same line, but when it hangs straight down and neck is wrinkley. This could change with location I suppose, but last year we had tons of rain during fig ripening season, my HC and Petit Negra were not phased  by the rain and every single one was delicious. Peter's Honey on the other hand, all the figs lost their flavor and some split.

A fully ripe HC looks like an old monkey scrotum. It should very droopy and wrinkly and not very attractive. Right on the verge of rotting.

It's going to take more than a day.  I have one a little further along and it's been 3-4 days and it's still not ready.  Show her the photos on Grasa's thread and what Grasa said after she let some wait longer.

Here's one that is just hanging on its' last few strands just waiting to be picked. Wait any longer and some critter will grab it!

The critters I have to watch out for are ants. We did have rain yesterday. It had drooped more but hadn't wrinkled around the neck. When I checked it today it was covered with ants. These are poor quality pictures, but there are holes and some green spots that look like mold. It's in the fridge waiting for the cook to get home and start salvage operations.

   

Ants can't get to it if you tie an organza bag around the stem.

Tom, same here with the ants. I've got both the giant big black ants and the tiny ants.

Hi Greysmith,
If the ants go to it then it is ripe but sometimes could have used 1 or 2 more days - so sacrifice one of your shirts .
On passed Monday, while harvesting some figs, I spotted some fruit-flies flying around my "Goutte d'or" ... Scratched my head, plugged the brain, I saw a piece of my shirt on a stem of the tree. Oups, I had forgotten
a breba on that stem.
That fig was ripe - had began to split and crack - so look for fruit-flies to know if your figs are ripe :P .
I'll add a pic of it to my "Goutte d'or" post - That fig took late cold damage and the eye was not centered but was the ripest I could harvest this year so far from my "Goutte d'or" - after the sparrows gobbed my best promising "Goutte d'or" breba .
Well, let's face it: still no "Goutte d'or" / "Honey drop" at the eye of the fig ... but some honey inside.

Well, we cut the damage off and ate what was left last night. It was disappointing. It was watery, not very sweet, and not much taste. The figs I got from my unknown (probably Celeste) last year were much much better.

It could be the rain, that it's such a young tree, it wasn't quite ripe, or our unusually cool summer. It was a learning experience but generated as many questions as answers. I for sure know to protect from ants now, and to wait... but not too long.