I copied this from GW/FF it kinda looks familiar!
Just my $000.2
Posted by baust55 (My Page) on Tue, May 5, 09 at 11:40
perhaps oiling would help?
Fig varieties usually ripen their fruit during July or August. Souring of figs results chiefly from entry into the fig by insects that carry souring organisms upon their bodies. Populations of such insects and souring organisms are higher in late summer than earlier in the season. Earlier ripening of figs would thus be greatly beneficial.
An ancient, but little known practice can provide a simple way to ripen figs 30 days or more before their normal ripening date. This practice, in use as early as the third century B.C., is known as "oleification" and consists of applying one of a variety of oils to the eye of the fig fruit at a time when it will respond by ripening at a greatly accelerated rate.
Oleification was probably discovered quite by accident, and one can only speculate about how it happened. However, since both figs and olives grow in the same region, olive oil and figs must have come together quite early. At some unknown time, someone found that the application of olive oil to the eye of green figs would cause them to ripen far earlier than untreated figs. Other oils have been shown to produce the same effect. Mineral oil has worked as well as vegetable oils.
There are a number of theories concerning the cause of the response, but very little evidence exists to support any of them. Several features of the "oil response" seem to support the theory that it is caused by a growth regulator produced by the fruit when influenced by the oil. Since many different oils, and even some materials other than oils, produce the same type of response, no component of the oil itself seems to be involved. Fig growers can continue to benefit from the practice while researchers puzzle about its method of action.
An added benefit is that several figs will ripen on each shoot at the same time, rather than at naturally occurring intervals of 1 or 2 days. The treatment to induce early ripening is quite simple, consisting of the application of a small amount of oil, usually oliveoil or heavy mineral oil such as that used for medicinal purposes, to the eye of the fig. Care should be taken to avoid applying the oil to
other parts of the fruit. The use of a small cotton applicator makes the job easy.
Timing the application is very important. Applying oil too early can cause the young figs to drop before ripening. Applications made too late are ineffective. Because of the bearing habit of the fig, however, this is not too much of a problem. Since the figs at successive nodes up the shoot are younger toward the tip, fruits of a receptive stage can usually be found.