Hi
i have this recurring problem of falling brown turkey figs and open eye (ostiole).most of the fallen fruit is bigger than usual.. when the eye is open (on big figs) and the fruit is still attached ants go in and spoil the fruit...
i am using a saucer plate this year and this might be the cause?

i irrigate twice a day with drip and the water in the saucer evaporates during the day and slowly overnight.

what am i doing wrong?

maybe the saucer is the problem causing too much water to wick and the fruit expands too fast causing the eye to open and the fruit to spoil ?
i guess people using SIP dont have this problem caue they use the same wicking "system"?

thanks

ant problem can be solved by a product called "tangle foot". the ants get stuck on it and they can't got to the figs.

as to the large eye on the figs, cut down on the water. i have a fig that i truly enjoy. but it has good size eye. when it rains, any fig that was swelling or ripening at that time will open its eye even bigger. big enough for any flying insects to get into. but when the weather cooperates and rain is reasonable, even with watering once a day, it will produce amazing fig.

last year the same tree in a clay pot without saucer and was getting much less frequent  watering but the figs came out amazing..
they were poor looking throught out the season but one day and they look like big apples.
i guess the problem with growing in the pots is overwatering (out of love)...

this year they look nice and big (still green but)  but when the eye opens they are gone and the ants get them...  guess those plastic pots have better water retention and thus different fig ripening dynamics...
also regarding the ants i have few branches touching the soil thus welcoming more ants to the party.
ill design my new tree with a taller main trunk and gonna paint it with that special white stuff...

clay pot will evaporate water faster. with same watering schedule.. it will retain less water. plastic pot will retain water much longer so don't need to water as often.

right now putting it on a 0.5 gph drip emmiter instead of 1gph

BTW do inground trees suffer from overwatering as much?
this in ground tree i have taken cuting from has alot of figs but many are dropping while small and i noticed the ground is full with water almost like a swamp.