Hello everyone,

I wanted to make a thread that compiles all the varieties that need more than the average amount of heat to ripen. This will help northern growers such as myself and will be a good reference.

These varieties like heat or require a number of heat hours to ripen:

Kadota
Scott's Black
Panache
Black Madeira
Col de Dame (All)
Vasilika Sika
Flanders
Conadria
Italian 258
Preto
Ischia Black
Cavaliere
Paradiso (gene)

These varieties taste better with heat:

Hardy Chicago
Black Jack


I'm interested to hear about what varieties you think need more heat & your solutions to supplement that extra amount of heat.

-Ross

Ross I am not convinced it is heat as much as a long stretch of dry, warm weather. My Panachee started in the greenhouse and most ripened in early To mid august in NY, but the quality was not excellent, if your climate is humid (and this was a dry summer for us) they will not do well, they split badly at times. If you cannot provide a head start, you will see many do not ripen. It is true that all figs need a certain amount of heat units, and most summers on the continental 48 will provide that unless you are particularly cool. But I think it is the long summer rather than extreme heat that these figs need.

Heat units or long hot dry Summer,---late ripening varieties,do need it,but there is a couple of remedies

- Early start in greenhouse.

-Growing late ripening varieties in pot,even better,(bury the pot 3 inches in ground,in a sunny spot)

I will add to the above  list:

Coll de Dame(all)

Vasilika Sika

Edit note: Would like to add this ,little secret:There are no better tasting ripe fruits ,to equal late ripening cultivars.
That is why one should have at least a couple,to complement Early ripening cultivars.

I live in Pacific north west area.
My brother has " Capelas variety" fig tree, It bears big size water base figs at September, at early September, Figs are sweet but at end of September, Figs are bland or not-sweet, temperature is same at September but sun is weakening.

It seems that water base figs need strong solar power, it needs at least 3-4+ KW/hr/M2 sun power to sweet up figs at ripening stage.

http://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/properties-of-sunlight/average-solar-radiation

Ross
Are those varieties that the need hot weather or were they recommended for northern growers.  
Bill  z7 Baltimore Md.

That's a list that needs heat.

Conadria, Average - High heat

It may be a bit more about getting heat at the right time.

For example, Desert King breba crop does well in the PNW because it ripens at the point in summer when it is hottest. The main crop would "ripen" in December, perhaps, and have no flavor and sugar.

Getting your fig to ripen when the weather is hottest, might be accomplished by getting the tree to break dormancy earlier, which would bring forward ripening to a point in the year that is hotter.

Length of day may be a factor, but have never seen any real science on this variable.

Hotter weather compresses the season and cooler weather stretches the season. If I visit USDA/UC Davis in the right week, everything is ripe. They have a very hot summer. The earliest figs are at the end of their season and the latest figs are beginning their season.

When grown commercially, in CA's central valley, the season is about four weeks. I don't remember the exact order, but one grower has three varieties, which I think were Kadota, Calimyrna and Black Mission. In the first week of harvest, the Kadotas are picked. The second week Kadotas and Calimyrna, in the third week Calimyrna and Black Mission, and in the fourth week, Black Mission. Then season over. The benefit of 100F temps from most of the summer.

Flanders is a later fig and a heat lover.
Conadria has always been late for me and a heat lover.
I found that Hardy Chicago is a much better fig if it is hot. Getting reflected heat from the driveway brought out a jammy quality that it didn't have, otherwise.
Black Jack was really a brown Turkey in quality, but when it gets more heat it moves closer to a Black Mission in quality.
Etc.

Really good info guys. Just updated the list if anyone has any other varieties they think are worth adding.

Add Italian 258 and Preto to your list. Also Ischia Black, Cavaliere and Paradiso (gene).

I hope that list isn't accurate or I'll have done disappointments. Hardy Chicago for example, I thought was recommended for Northerners.

I think it depends on what the definition of ripen is.

Are we saying that these figs will absolutely never ripen a single fig unless they get 85 degrees+ for so many days?

Or are we saying that these varieties cannot ripen to their full potential, maximum best flavor, without a certain amount of heat?

Or are we just saying if they don't get enough heat it will get to late into fall and the will be ruined by frost?

I think it's important to be clear about which we are talking about.

Like Jon said, "I found that Hardy Chicago is a much better fig if it is hot. Getting reflected heat from the driveway brought out a jammy quality that it didn't have, otherwise."

And Sid makes a good point. I've created two categories.

What I'm now wondering is, are there any late varieties that don't need warmer temps during ripening? 

"Or are we just saying if they don't get enough heat it will get to late into fall and the will be ruined by frost?"
I would say,the above is somewhat true,but not only,because a long Summer with many sunny days,is also necessary.
It can be hot ,humid, cloudy and rainy,and that will not help,ripe.
Also we should plant,or set pot,in a spot with full day sun,otherwise if in shade,it can be hot sunny,dry and long Summer and ,it will not ripe.

What is important,is that if you help your tree ,in adverse climatic conditions,by observing to create the right condition,the late ripening fig will help you by giving you delicious ripe fruits every time.
And if it does not ripe ,think of it as your failure,not the tree failure.
Somewhere somehow you cut corners.
Of course there is one instance where it will not be your fault if it does not get ripe fruits:
If your yard does not have full sun anywhere. In this case it will only ripe in Some years with long dry hot Summer.

There are way too many figs to name that require a long ideal season to perfectly ripen and achieve their maximum potential. 

I like to expand my fig collection to a nice diverse set so I am interested in how to provide the ideal environment to let all my figs ripen fully.   Even early ripening figs will benefit from ideal ripening conditions by producing better tasting sweeter figs, sooner and more of them.
 
The strategies for this probably differ depending on your climatic condition. 

In my case we have a relatively short season (z6) and with some years lacking in heat units and too much rain.
I find by extending the season with a coldframe in May to get the figs started earlier.  Then again a coldframe in October to give them more time and heat and keeping the excess rain off them works for all my in ground figs. 
For container figs the fig shuffle and a proper greenhouse will ripen most figs.

Disregard this if you live in an ideal Mediterranean type climate..lol

I use olive oil on the hole depending on heat 5-7 days they will ripen, but it only works on the big ones