Hi folks :) I finally tasted my first fig today. I was picking up veg for a soup and saw some green figs at the green grocer. I bought one and when I got home picked the fig from my tree that felt the most similar.

When I picked it it had the white latex coming off of it at the stem. I opened both the store-bought one and the one from the tree - the store one was this strawberry jam colour, an almost brown level of pink. The one from the tree was vivid pink, and didn't have that jam consistency. The smell from the small one was very different too, a sharper smell.

It could be that I didn't pick a ripe one, but to me the figs feel the same as they did two weeks ago :/ none have fallen to the ground, so I don't know where they've gone.

Any thoughts? How long do they take from being almost ripe to ripe? The one son the tree are so soft you could give them a little squeeze and put your thumb through the fruit by mistake.

PS - I LOVED the flavour of the fig. Wow! Never had anything like it before, really good texture. I really hope my figs come off tasting the same as that one.

The latex is proof the fig is not ripe.

In some cases at the end of the growing season the figs remaining on the tree do not ripen at all.  For example, I have a 6yr.old Ischia Green tree (in ground) that produced over 300 figs last summer, but in  late September / early October there were still 30 or 40 full size figs that never ripened and had to be stripped off before winter wrapping.  One of my favorite ways to tell if a fig is ripe is the softness of the fruit...if it's soft and the stem is drooping down, and the skin looks like it's just about to split, then usually it yields a nice ripe fig.  Hope this helps, and good luck.

once the fig set on the tree, it takes about 75 days or more before the fig will be ripen, i think it's 75 days.. maybe 85. anyway.. you will notice that the fig will have "hangman's neck". it will droop on the point where it's attatched to the branch. you want to gently "feel" the figs to see if it's soft. you might want to take one off the tree to see how ripen it is, and if you like the way it is, eat it :) i like it just when there is no more latex when i cut off the hard part off. i have no clue what all the fig part names are.

Amber in Oregon its not the season for ripe figs.

martin, that was too easy :) i alway miss the obvious lol.

I saw a you tube video  were they removed about half the leafs to cause the figs to ripen up sooner , not sure if that would work in a cooler climate or if it would damage the tree ?

Thanks all. The fruit is not ripe, but I'll keep on waiting :)

Yes Nichole is right, I'm Amber from Australia :) I'll upload a photo so it's easier to tell us apart haha!

So it's South Australia, and we're sweltering through a hot summer. It's getting up to 98.6  today, and was at 105 on Monday. It's a dry heat where I am, no humidity (thank goodness, I can handle a 98 and dry better than 80 and humid!

Ah ok Amber your in Australia and in summer now , welcome to the forum.  ; )

You do not want latex the white liquid that comes from unripe figs as it can irritate skin and mouth to some folks.

Here is one almost ready
and
Here is classic hangmans neck and ready to eat.

The "saying" I heard was that a fig is ripe when it has a hangman's neck (droops from the stem), a mourner's eye (drips honey from the eye) and a penitent's robe (the skin rips).

Thank you, those are great photos and a good description.

Once I find a ripe one I will post a photo to hopefully get an ID on the type of fig tree I have :)

martin.. is that a light fig that i see? 

Welcome!  I'd love to visit Australia some day.