I am a new fig grower and my current fig collection includes Chicago Hardy, Rhone de Bordeaux, Lebanese Red, Malta Black and Makedonia Dark.  Attached is a picture of my Rhone de Bordeaux plant. 

My question has to do with timing of figs' ripening.  Please see attached picture.  These plants were started last year by cuttings, wintered them in my garage, took them out and repotted in early spring.  Fertilized and watered regularly.  In middle Tennessee, we saw a very wet May.  I am concerned that they will not get any bigger or ripen.  They are still hard and very green.  Every plant has lots of figs but I am wondering about their size and if they will ripen.  

Are these figs on track for ripening?  Am I doing anything wrong or do they look right to you, the experts?

Any guidance on what to expect in the next couple of months appreciated.
 

Here is a close up of the Malta Black which are the three tallest trees in my collection.   A couple of the figs are turning color but still very hard.

Here is the Lebanese Red from Harvey C (via Bass, I think).

Finally,  here is a picture of the location where they are being grown - view is towards the east and the house is on the west side.  They receive sun from 9:00 to around 3:00 - on concrete but the planters are not dark.   I try to make sure they have water every two days and I fertilized when I repotted and then again sometime in May.  .  I did add some lime when I repotted.. From left to right, Chicago Hardy, Lebanese Red, Makedonia Dark, Chicago Hardy, Makedonia Dark, Malta Black, Ronde de Bordeaux, Makedonia Dark, Malta Black, and Malta Black.

Those look great ....SO Far ;)

Thanks, Baust55.  I agreed that they look "happy" so far --  but I am wondering if I am just working to grow figs that won't ripen.  I am not sure where they should be in the growing stage being in Middle Tennessee and at late June. 

Standard beginner's questions:
Am I watering too much?
Do I need to add more lime?
Do I fertilize again?
What can I do to insure some success in getting these green figs to mature into lovely, sweet, delicious figs?

I am hoping for a success story to tell at the end of this season and not a disappointing one.   My first crop of  blackberries are the wonder of the neighborhood - I want my figs to be equally successful  :)

Whatever you are doing, keep doing it. It is common to give regular fertilizer until you are about 8 weeks or so from dormancy.  Just don't over do it.  Remember that excessive rain can wash away your fertilizer.  Your crop (assume they are main crop) is further along than mine.  By the beginning of August you should be eating figs.  Please post your results, especially the Lebanese Red.  I have figs on mine too that are a couple weeks behind yours.

Finally, attached is one of my three Makedonia Dark that I bought as cuttings from Bass last spring.  They all have little green figs and doing well.  

are those breba figs on old wood or mane crop figs on new wood .

here in zone 5 my mane crop figs ripen in August September    or later .

I have both figs on old growth/new growth on the two Chicago Hardys and the three Malta Blacks.  On the Ronde de Bordeaux, the Lebanese Red and the three Makedonia Dark, the figs are on the new growth.  Not sure why the difference.  I just went to touch one of the figs on the old growth Malta Black and it just fell off  so I opened it and it is pure white.  On the outside, it was turning color.

Steve, thanks for the advice.  I will keep the list informed with pictures if and when the figs mature and I will take pictures of the inside, too.

I am in Zone 7a if that helps.

Your figs look great!  In zone 6b, I would think yours would ripen late summer - fall.  Here in zone 9b I've had  many ripen, but those were all breba on old wood.  New crop figs have not ripened.

Patience is not my best feature, but it is required for fig ripening.

Suzi

What ever you are doing looks right. Be patient. The birds will let you know when the figs are ripe. :)

Thank you so much for the votes of confidence. I will keep plodding along and hopefully will do more good than damage for the next few months. I will price out the bird netting just in case.

Don't laugh but I used some leftover Miracle-Gro All purpose fertilizer granules 10-10-10 that I had on hand from last year and some that I found at estate sales. I mixed it in the new soil mixture ( 1/3 Pro-mix HP, 1/3 sphagnum peat moss, 1/3 dirt from my yard and just a little perlite and lime) when I repotted at the first of March when we had our last freeze and the trees could stay outside. Then I added more fertilizer in early May just on top of the soil in the pots and watered it in. That is it. Based on the recommendations above, I will fertilize one more time since our first frost will probably be sometime in early November. For all the plants in the pictures, this is their 2nd growing season. They were tiny plants and/or just cuttings last spring (2014).

I'm South central KY so I'm a bit North of you. I'm getting breba's ripening but not main crop (see this topic). I pinched the brebas off the ones I could reach to keep that early growth spurt in the plant. There was a VdB and that "not a kadota" that were the smaller plants closest to the window and I couldn't reach them through the bigger plants behind them. So, those are the ones with brebas ripening. My HC's and MBVS'  are at the same stage as your's.

Patience, grasshopper! :-)

I am just east of Lebanon. If you're in the Nashville area, we should exchange cuttings sometime! :-)

HI Golfmom,
It is normal for the fig fruit to grow to a certain size in about the first month or so, it will then remain that size 'forever' or so it seems.
The spectacular actions take place in the last week to ten days before the fruit is ripe.
In that last week to ten  days the fruit will about double in size, take on its ripe colour, get soft and droop down.
Your  plant looks great.

I guess that is why I was getting a bit worried - this is the first big crop of figs since I got the plants/cuttings last year and there was only just a couple of ripe figs right at the end of the year so I don't know what to expect with a bigger crop.

So, I will fertilize one more time and then keep watering. 

Egghead, I am sure we can figure out something in swaps (I never have done that either).  I have to figure out when to and how to do a cutting first.  I have lots of reading ahead of me.

I'm 2 hours from Nashville, and wouldn't mind getting in on a cutting swap. Now is the time to do air-layer's, taking cuttings is a winter sport in my experience.

You are talking big words "air-layering". I do not think I am quite up to that level of competency in handling fig trees so I will keep on reading. I am not sure of how to manage simple cuttings. :)

We should arrange something this fall/winter. :-)

The way to learn is by doing. There is plenty of how to info on this site, you just need to search it. Here is a thread that tells you how to search.

I was saying that at this time of year you would probably do better starting air layers rather than cuttings. The rooting process is where you get the most losses. Air layering roots them before you cut them off the tree. I like air pruning, which is another whole topic. But, multiplying them out is a big part of the adventure of figs. If you are starting that at this time of year, then airlayering is a good place to start.

Greysmith, if I consider air-layering, how do you select the place to do the cutting of the bark to add the root hormone?  I don't want to damage my tree in order to get cuttings if I air-layer in the wrong place.

Since I have not even gone through a dormant season to prune cuttings, you can understand that I am a little hesitant on cutting live bark here and there to do air-layering.  The trees are just about one year old at the present time.

So I better start researching on the best times and best locations on a young tree for air-layering!

And as Egghead mentioned, this may be better to do as a fall/winter activity for such a neophyte!

It typically takes 90 - 120 days from when you first see tiny figlets until they are ripe, depending on the cultivar.