My Papa John, Alma, Hardy Chicago, Violette du Bordeaux and Tiger Stripe Panache all have various sized mostly firm figs on them. They are sitting in the south outside, getting full sun and sufficient water occasionally with kelp.

Is there any hope/tricks to get them to ripen? They are in containers and are between two and three years old. This is my first year owning them.

I think that the cooler weather is slowing down their progress and while it would be tedious to bring them inside at night and back out in the morning, I'd only want to take that on if it cold guarantee us some ripe figs. Yeah, I'm will to work for figs ;)

I live in MD zone 7a and its a little cool some nights but not freezing yet.

Thanks in advance for constructive helps.

Potatochips101,
My Hardy Chicago, Papa John and Violet de Bordeaux potted trees have been experiencing lows in the 30's to low 50's and highs in the 60's for the past 3 weeks and have been continuously ripening figs. They do ripen slower, do not get as sweet, but they still ripen.

There is a simple way to know if the tree will ripen figs before the first frost. You can count the number of days since the figs first formed. Figs usually take 90 - 120 days to ripen from first forming. Papa John and VDB are closer to the 120 day end of the scale and Hardy Chicago is at the middle. If the figs were formed in the end of June or early July they should have enough time to ripen outdoors. When figs are formed after the 120 day window, they should be pinched to allow the older figs to develop. Attached are a few pictures of the above named cultivars on the trees taken yesterday (I've been documenting the ripening times and stages of my trees). As a note there are several cultivars that seem not to be as easily affected by the colder weather when ripening figs, The "Mt Etna" types are among them.

BTW, the ostiole (eye) oiling trick to induce ripening works if the figs are near the end of the ripening period for that cultivar.
Good Luck.
  

You can probably try the "oil" trick.

There are some discussions here in a previous post:

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Forcing-Figs-to-ripen-before-it-is-too-late-2240760

Good luck!

Greetings

The problem right now, as you said, night time temperatures are really cool, with day time temps just warm. I too have a LOT of Hardy Chicago, Conadria, Brown Turkey in that green needing more summertime heat! I don't have much hope for most. I'm not sure bringing them in and out will help, but it can't hurt. I'd pick one or two and see if it works!

With lower temperatures the fruit temperature stays cold longer as it is very wide and takes longer to heat up, this means that ripening is delayed.  If they haven't started to swell or colour you  can try oiling some and seeing what happens, it may take a couple days in this weather to have an effect as it has with mine.

I've been trying bringing a few of mine inside for the night time.  We've been having a great spell of warm-sunny-autumn days for the past week (and expected to continue the rest of this week).  So I've been protecting a few trees from the cool nights by bringing them in.  I don't know if it'll be enough though... the days are getting shorter.  A greenhouse would work, but I' not so sure this shuffling inside to avoid the cool nights will be enough.  Once these leaves weaken, nothing will provide the continual flow of sugar that they need.  Trying anyway :-)

Mike

<edit> p.s. I'm only bothering at this with trees that I calculate have figs that are 10 - 20 days from swelling up.

 A good forecast is a big help and I do believe we have that for the next week or so, should be similar for you in Maryland. I've never tried oiling but many have and say it works

Thank you all for your helpful insights. I forgot to mention that I tried oiling them about a week ago. On Saturday they were still green and hard and two figs had fallen off two trees.

I almost gave up hope and cut the other figs off the trees figuring that I'd save the trees the bother of trying to maintain and ripen the crop but, I hesitated mainly out of curiosity. Today I looked at the trees after posting my question here and lo, the Papa John tree that had dropped two figs now have darkened fruits showing a bit of reddish blush.

Hope this means that a few figs  are up our alley. 

Glad to hear they're ripening potatochips. I'm experiencing a similar situation with my preto twins. Both plants are loaded and taking their sweet time to ripen. Fortunately I spotted some darkening on one just this morning.

Oh dear, just noticed today that some of the darkened figs on the Papa John are not holding onto to tree. A little touch and three figs fell off.

Maybe I oiled them too soon? Maybe the chilly nights are wearing on them.

Now its all just an experiment.
I don't expect that I'll be eating anymore figs from my garden but I can't help but hope.

Maybe I can find some fresh figs at a farmer's market.

I thought about buying some fresh figs online from california but that just seemed a little pricey and risky seeing as figs have such a short life and I live in MD.

To those of you still reaping your homegrown figs, the next time you pick a delightfully luscious fig, close your eyes and eat it slowly. Savor the smell, texture and each and every intricate flavor, Savor it's juices and give thanks to the Great Creator for those particular blessings.

Potatochips, I did some oiling last night and will comment on the result should there be one  I oiled only a handful of figs so I'll know if there's an effect compared to a control.  

The weather is supposed to be pretty good for the next 5 days (in Wilmington at least) with high's near 80.  That might be all they need.  The limiting factor might be the abundance of light.  

Good information, thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

I'm definitely going to try the defoliation method. I have quite a few trees that have a decent amount of large green fruit on them. They have been hanging that way for months now. Someone once commented on one of my posts that it takes over a month to ripen up a fig several months have passed and now it's getting chilly here in MD. 

So, a leaf snipping I will go hopefully today or Sunday. 

I figure that I don't have much to lose if my trees start acting up because all I had was a bunch of hard green figs anyway. 

I have a Montruese, Olympian, Violetta (B), Banana, LSU Purple, LSU Tiger, Celeste, Negronne (not green but, hard and not ripe, and a Hardy Chicago that has been giving me one fig every two to three weeks. 

I'll try to remember to post my results. Four people eating one fig is not quite as fun as four people eating four figs a piece ;)

Hi Lilli,

I'm glad that this is working for you.
My figs are changing slowly in color but still hard or semi hard.

I had a tiny Smith that was not fully ripe but soft enough to eat it was just bearly sweet but I was very grateful to have it- I ate it alone...Hey, it was small ;)

My Olympians are turning yellow but not softening. A few have fallen off and were white and totally unripe inside.

My Negronne is still reddish purple and hard as little rocks.

The Violetta and Chicago Hardy, Banana, Mary Lane, LSU purple are still in a holding pattern.

It's been kinda chilly here the last few nights so I may need to employ my makeshift hoop house if I hope to see any more ripened figs.

Maybe we should switch trees Lilli ;)
Today I got one almost ripe Hardy Chicago and another is swelling maybe next week? This weekend I have got one partially ripe Montrouse fig (picked due to impatience and fear of loss to animal pilferage) it was pretty good. Besides the one Smith that I mentioned previously. I got another pretty unripe Smith that fell off when I touched it yesterday. It was red inside but very dry.
My others are still green or as with my Olympian, turning slightly yellow but still hard and hollow feeling.
Not giving up hope. But not betting the barn either. Will keep you posted with anything notable.
Oh, and congrats on your ripening fruits.
Yeah, I'm a little jealous but in a hopeful kinda way :)
Enjoy them ripening figs for all of us green fig gardeners.

Thanks for the encouragement Lilli,
I'll keep gently squeezing and hoping. Looks like two more Montrouse are starting to swell and one or two Chicago Hardys are coming along.