Hi fellas, I bought a ''brown turkey'' fig tree in feb. it has grown very well has a dozen brebas and in the last 5 weeks has put on maybe thirty main crop figs. I now have a ripe fig,I THINK, it is big and plump and looks and feels ripe. except its green! So my question is, did I buy a mislabeled fig or do BTs turn purple just before they're ready to be picked? This is my first home grown fig don't want to ruin it by picking to early. And don't want to leave it on too long . Any advice would be welcome. Thanks, Bob

I will add that they do one of many things:  The skin will wrinkle, the neck will "droop", the skin will crack, the fig will fall off, the fig will become soft enough to easily "squish" it between your fingers, and/or it will ooze from the eye (could be any or all of the above).

My BT typically will begin to start turning blushing reddish-purple on any part that is in constant sun about 2-3 weeks prior to the figs actually getting ripe like THIS and THIS - When it is about 7-10 days from ripe the skin looks like THIS - When it is fully ripe, it looks like THIS and THIS although I will tell you - that one was fairly overripe (it's the only way BT figs have ANY flavor), normally a "nicely ripe" BT will have yellowish green around the very top of the fruit.

I have several breba figs on mine now, and they're still about 4-5 weeks from being fully ripe, they are still very firm, very green (with white flecks) and the neck is so stiff that some are sitting out horizontal from the ground. 

If you bought your tree online at Willis Orchards or TyTy, or you bought it at a hardware store like Home Depot or Lowes, you have a great likelihood it was mislabelled.  Don't buy fruit at those kinds of stores unless you don't care what variety it is.

Post pictures of the fruit you are seeing.  That will help people to tell you if it's ripe.  A picture is always worth a thousand words.  You can type explaining your fruit till your fingers fall off ... and still not give a good visual.  Or you can post 2-3 pictures and all confusion is gone.

PS for a LOT more of Brown Turkey fig pictures, check this thread out:  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4767918  (make sure you are logged in or you won't see the pictures)

Probably because it's not actually a Brown Turkey, it was just a brown fig some englishman had, and he thought all figs were called "Brown Turkeys", so ... that name "English Brown Turkey" was born.  ;)

"The" Brown Turkey is not great.

Many figs that have "Brown Turkey" in the name but are not "The" Brown Turkey fig are supposedly reasonably good (I've never been able to confirm).  I personally like small, dark figs, so ... I made the mistake of my first purchased fig being a BT.  Never again :)

Where do you live?

As for the names of figs--Mostly I'm only interested in what someone calls the fig, and know that it may not be the true one of them, for my own information.

I have an LSU Golden Celeste, but it has a pinkish pulp.  Dan has an LSU Golden Celeste and it has a tight eye and tan pulp.  I want one of those, like he has.  No chance I'll find one of those.  PLus, there is a third LSU Golden Celeste and it has a tan pulp, but not a tight eye.

I'm going to be happy with the varieties I have now and am very thankful to have them.  Most of them should do well in Bayou Country and that's what is important to me.

I was given an Atreano fig to taste and it was so very delicious and it is a green fig.  Most of the trees I have produce dark figs.  I don't care how large, or small they are if they're good.  If they're small, you just eat more of them.  :)

There were two fig trees in my grandparent's back yard in VA and I think they were brown turkey and they were very delicious.  I liked them best when they were very ripe.  That was back in the early '50's.  If they weren't BTs, I don't know what they could have been.  No one ever said a name because they were just fig trees.  I would give my eye teeth for one of those trees today.

Thanks to digital cameras and internet, we get to see so many varieties and get information almost instantly and that's an amazing thing.  Just think of all the people we'd never have known if not for these forums.

I'm still somewhat unclear if referring to a fig as a white fig is people saying what color the inside is, rather than the outside because there are no actual white figs that I know of.  There are green, yellow, tan, brown, golden, purple, black and other colors, but that's the color of the outsides of the figs.

noss

Noss, Atreano is a must for a fig collector!  The taste is out of this world.  I have a couple in 5gal pots too!  The tree spreads out so well.  Awesome tree!

Atreano is the one of those figs that seems to split the fig enthusiasts.

Some wouldn't bother, calling the taste 'bland' but there are others that swear by it. I have it in my collection and hopefully can taste it one day.

It seems the secret to getting it taste great is to let it overripen. Almost to the point where it is about to fall off.

I have a rather large Atreano tree in my collection. The taste was very bland on the first crop.....to the point where I was about to cut it down  and replace it.  Second crop figs were much better and I am giving it another chance because of this and the many favorable reviews that I have read. So far, I am not at all impressed by it. Maybe it is like LSU Purple......where some trees need to mature BEFORE they will produce excellent tasting figs.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

My Atreano brebra crop on my tree is very bad tasting...at least the first ones tasted does.  But the main crop is excellent and will wish you had more figs!  My tree has a lot of brebras and the tree is growing so fast.  The main crop fig on my tree are very juicy and extra sweet.  I air layered it last year and the kids are growing fine too. 

Also, the brown turkey figs in my area are excellent tasting, no doubt!  They have a unique flavor and very sweet.  When they are picked at their peak, they are super fantastic!  Here is a pic of some I picked last year.  The only other bland figs I had are those that came from my Black Spanish.  The figs on my tree are extra large and taste like nothing.  I am considering giving the tree away.  However, I have it in a huge pot.  It died back over winter and the darn tree came back larger than last year!  I know if I plant it in the ground the figs might improve in flavor.  Some say, Black Spanish is the same as Cali BT, but I don't know anything about that.  I may plant mine over near my neighbours property and let him have all the figs he wants from it.