I swear just yesterday I was looking at my single lone Negronne breba fig wondering if it was ever going to start changing colors on me. You are watered, you have good sun! Do something!

Well today I came home and was surprised at how much it changed in just 24 hours. The color went from mostly green with just a slight flush of violet color to a darker purple-ish color and the very start of its downward sag descent. The interesting thing is it looks like my breba and my two main crop figs will finish at nearly the same time? Dare I hope?

The timing of the ripening (roughly the same time) had my double guessing my impression on the two main crop figs actually being brebas but I'm pretty sure they are main crop. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am guessing the timing is due to our cooler climate and the shock of heat we've had lately.

I know it could still be a ways off but this week is supposed to be quite warm (for us) in the 80s and 90s. Next week it'll cool off and hang out in the 70s. If these ripen they'll be my first ever. And then I'll finally be able to say I ate a fresh fig!



Still a bit green on the side that isn't being hit by the sun.


The two figs that I think are main crop.

Main crop comes from last year's new wood.  Judging from the green stem at the top of the photo it looks like the lower 2 are main crop.  Good luck on getting them ripe.  The more sun the better.  Protect the figs from critters and if the temps drop keep it near a south or west wall for the heat.

thanks for confirming those two are main crop figs. I have this baby up against my south facing fence. BAKE BABY BAKE!

Breba grows on previous years' wood, main grows on this years' new green growth.

I know the green wood vs old wood but the new wood has gotten darker which made me doubt my myself. I was pretty sure them growing out of a leaf base was another helpful tip. But again, novice.. doubting myself.. yadda yadda

Thanks for bearing with me ;)

Getting closer...

Oh thats a wonderful looking fig you have there.
Wait for it
Wait for it
Dont give in to temptation.
Wait for it
then Bam
that wasn't so hard was it.  ; )

Hope you enjoy it.

Closer yet...
How much longer, you think?


Violet says it's not quiiiiiite ready yet.

Nichole  if you wait for it  it will make the difference from a good fig to an excellent fig.
Here is example from same family as yours this is violet de bordeaux.

First picture taken 34 hours ago .

This picture taken 34 hours later today same fig showing both sides and will be eaten first thing tomorrow morning and could be eaten now but i wait cause nothing is going to bother it but me.

Please let us know how you like the fig either way after eaten.  ; )

Click to enlarge thumbnail

Edit: that picture with your dog is precious.

minimum 2 days (nicely ripe), max 5 days (dead ripe).

at 2 days it should be drooping at the neck and skin start wrinkling.  at 5 days, it should probably look like an old man's ballsack.  You want to pick before it gets much farther than that.

I just sent Jon an email about the above poster( satellitehead) , we will see if it fell on deaf ears?

Do I need to edit something, Cecil? You can always reach out to me directly, I'm not unapproachable.  I dont see anything crazy, but we all have our threshholds.

It made me laugh Satellite. Although I haven't seen an old man's sack I think the description is valid.

I have, thanks to working in health care. It certainly leads to a vivid image and makes me look at my precious fig in a whole new light.

Congratulation!!  You may finally has some figs to eat, but becareful for some wild animals.  I lost most of the plums over night few days ago.  

Jason,

You call it a  threshhold< I call it respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would be worried about Violet! She may be thinking that is actually a VdB and therefore has her name on it ; )

@Nichole, I've seen the "sack" comparison made here or on GW before and I have yet to find a better description.  While possibly off-color, it just ... fits perfectly.  If that choice of comparison bothers you, feel free to shoot me a PM discretely, I'm happy to better understand how to communicate in a more suitable manner in the future. 

I personally don't like to let mine get up to that point, either ("dead ripe").  I like them just in the middle between nicely ripe (where yours should be today/tomorrow) and dead ripe.  Here is a thread of mine ripening (Negronne, which is same or related), post #31 was perfectly ripe for me:  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Negronne-breba-2012-5862021 .  To keep animals off, you may want to consider following this suggestion:  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/protect-your-fruit-and-recycle-5348530


@Cecil, I respect almost all members of this forum, including you.  I don't hang out, help and share with people I don't have respect for and I don't make offers to edit my words for people I don't have respect for.  Brother, nothing in this post was intended to be disrespectful, but if you personally need me to edit something here, let's discuss (you have my personal email and can also PM me), I'm willing to work with you on that.

Oh - and here, see post #1, VdB, which is possibly same or related to Negronne, this is a dead ripe fig:

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/EL.-VdB-5976165

I don't think there has been any change in the last 24 hours. It has cooled off a bit today. Currently around 70 degrees and the weather report says it'll get up to the 80s but I'm doubtful. Low 70s for the rest of the week.

There's still some green at the stalk. Needs some more time to ripen. I may play it safe and cover it with something similar to the link above (thanks Jason).

It's getting soft to the (gentle) touch but bounces back. No wrinkles, no cracks.

Front


Back


Eye

Looking at Jason's first link maybe my little breba is closer to being ripe than I thought. I'll post again tomorrow. I'd really like to put it in my mouth.

I grew up squeezing the figs to find out if they are ready.  When my fingers sunk in a bit, they were usually ready.

I like to let my figs get to the "marshmallow" feel before I pick them.  But that's hard to do on some of my green varieties like Salem White or Paradiso.