So, my father lives in South Carolina near Charleston in a low rural area. He is complaining he has no figs this year. I asked him if his tree died to the ground last winter. He said "No". But yet even last year 2014 he had a  good crop of figs. He said every year for the past 10 years he has had good crop of figs in July and August. This year he has eaten two figs so far. I asked him if it could be squirrels are getting to them and he said "no, there are just no ripe figs" only little ones which are no where near the size to become ripe yet. He doesn't do anything for the tree (fertilize water etc.) but he never has. Anyone have the same experience in South Carolina this year? Also, does anyone have an idea what the fig type might be?
 Thank you all for your wisdom.
           

Welcome to the forum!  I'm not an expert but it might be a Celeste.  I assume it's in ground?  Is he getting excessive rain this year like we are in KC?  Fertilizing it with a low N fertilizer can only help.  If you're getting a lot of rain you can sprinkle the dry fertilizer on the ground before the next rain.  Do you have root knot nematodes in your area?  If so a lot of organic mulch will help discourage them.  There are other methods of control you can find by searching on knot nematode.  Good luck.

Thank you for the reply rcantor. I don't know if he has nematodes or not. He is in South Carolina and I am in New Jersey. But the tree has been in the ground for over 10 years. I'm thinking if it had  a root nematode problem it would have shown up before now? I will ask about the rain. He is blaming it on the rough winter, but the winter of 2013-2014 was a rough winter also and he had plenty of  figs in the summer of 2014.

Hi,
Welcome to the forum.
Looks like celeste.
If that tree was not dropping figs before; something changed. Could be it is getting shade from a nearby tree that grew faster.
I had a shaded branch drop the two brebas, while everywhere else on the tree, the brebas made it to ripeness.

After 10 years, the dirt could start to go depleted, and some fertilizer could only help.
It could be from the weather. Fresh days can make figs drop.

One question: are there lots of figs on the tree ? figs fallen under the tree ? Or is your father complaining that there are almost just leaves on the tree ?
If the figs were there, but keep on disappearing, I would start critter hunting, especially at night .

Definitely, a Celeste.  Most fig trees found in the Carolinas are either Celeste, Brown Turkey or Brunswick.  If you're lucky, you can find an "Unknown" fig.  With the random drops of sever cold weather the past 2 years, some are dying or severely damaged.  Our love of figs will bring them back and keep them around for a long time.

Thank you for the replies JDSFrance and Snaglpus. The tree has many small figs on it at this point. It does not appear to be dropping them. But, according to my father it cannot ripen most of them. His point is that how could the growing season be delayed a 1.5 month? Also, there is a tree with a couple branches partially eclipsing the sun of the fig tree. I told my father he has too cut them and that they are not helping. Again,thank you for your replies.

I am in a similar climate here in North Georgia. The problem this year for us was not the unusual cold (down to 12F briefly), but the fact that one of these cold snaps happened in early spring after some fairly warm weather. Some inground trees were unaffected (Hardy Chicago, Sal's EL, Col de Dame blanc), but some were stunted, frozen back, or showed slow growth. My Celeste does not have any figs on it yet. The high temperatures and lack of moisture for the last month has also not been helpful. He shouldn't give up hope, it is early in the season yet. I will often still have ripe figs in early November.

Hey Scott, for the past 2 years, we keep getting 22 and 25 degree temps in mid November and again in January.  Not to mention the 5 degree sever cold snaps TWICE the past 2 years.  Most of my 6 foot tall trees in the ground or outside unprotected died to the ground.  I got lucky and dug up 5 of my prize trees last year before it happened but it's tough tried to keep these trees alive.  

As I stated above, Celeste and Brown Turkey are what I see the most.  Celeste is hardier than Brown Turkey though.  I got folks stopping by my house looking for "the fig man" because they want to show me their fig tree.  When I tell them it's one of the 2 they disagree.  I just laugh and go with them to visit their tree.  All but one has been either a Celeste or BT.  One ended up being a super fantastic rare Greek fig!  I got lucky and got 2 trees growing from THAT tree today!

Yes, if it goes below 10-12 degrees even for a few hours, it is time to break out the christmas lights and tarps or accept the freeze damage. Tons of Celeste and Brown Turkey around here and that's what a lot of the older ones seem to be, but the nurseries and big chain stores have been stocking some other ones, so younger figs have more variety.