Here in Central Arizona the weather has cooled but figs are still ripening.  They are just ripening much slower.  Here is a pic of some figs that I just shared with my girlfriend.  At 12 o'clock is VDB, at 4 o'clock is Desert King, at 8 o'clock is Joe's Jersey (unknown).  I cut the figs in half and we both tasted half of each fig.  Her favorite was VDB.  Mine was my unknown.  DK was a distant 3rd for us both.

They look delicious!

Thanks Susan.

Very nice, Joe! I keep thinking all mine are done, but if it warms up enough a few straggler VdBs might just make it.

Ken,

The VDB's I have been harvesting this fall have been delicious... much better than the ones I harvested in the summer. That fig does not like high temperatures. In the summer they were dry and tough. Now they are soft and juicy.

Alan,

I may be seeing much the same thing, Joe, but I haven't had enough time yet to draw any firm conclusions. Still, during the hot season, the VdBs were small, tough, and tasty, as you describe. Now we've had some rains and it's cooled off, and even the unripe figs are larger than the ripe ones have gotten. But, none of these larger ones have ripened yet, so I can't say how they taste. Here's hoping I get to find out.

Ken,

I should probably wait a few seasons before I draw conclusions about this variety. But this is what I have seen this year. Hopefully as the tree matures it will be able to produce excellent quality fruit during the summer.

Joe,

Wondering if you rig something up to throw a shade cloth over when you know the temps are going up to high. Might help some.

                                                              luke

Forgot to add, looks like you had a good snack. Figs look great.

luke

Hi Luke,

All of my VdB trees (three), will have wilted leaves when the temps. reaches 90F+ IMO, this variety is more prone to heat stress than other cultivators. They do produce excellent tasting figs during the summer months, the ones that ripen late (Oct.-Nov.) are smaller in size and less sweet.

It took awhile, but today I finally got five fully ripe VdBs and another Black Mission NL--all were protected inside plastic clamshell cherry tomato containers, which likely boosted the heat substantially due to the greenhouse effect, and probably helped them to ripen. They weren't quite prime-season quality but all were still very good and sweet--particularly for the end of November. There was also a ripe Brown Turkey that I had protected, but when I split it open the inside was just a mass of black mold--one more reason I'm glad to be shifting to closed-eye varieties.