C'mon heat! CT has been pretty hot this year so the fruit on these three should ripen up soon and man I cannot wait. This is the first year I've had a strong fruit set on these three varieties.

I am going to pop a net over them as soon as the ripen a little bit. The birds have shown no interest thus far in then but I know better that to be lazy. I kinda learned the hard way last year when I lined my trees up along my driveway. Sure they looked great but Bambi and his friends decided to do some pruning for me so the figs trees all live behind a chain link fence from that time forward.

VdB
 

RdB
 

Black Madeira



All three few pretty strongly this year so I think I will try a couple of air layers this winter. They will live in my basement this year (way too cold in detached garage) so if I can air layer a few off between Nov and Jan that would be great.

Jon I can still taste that Black Madeira you shared with me a few years back. Best fig in my life! Looking forward to trying this one from CT's climate so bad.

Your going to be feasting on some of the best. Nice work. They all look very heathy.

Deam!   That Black Madeira is looking real awesome!     Congrats on that! and good luck growing for the rest of the season.

Thank you Richard and Jerry!

I was really surprised out how fast the BM grew once I potted it up. I'm using a soil mix of 25% perlite, 25% peat moss, 25% compost and 25% garden soil. Little bit o' lime and fertilizer went a long way!

Very first RdB picked today! From the taste perspective it lives up to its reputation. Delicate figgy flavor with light crunch of seeds. I could have let it hang another day or so to sweeten up some more so I'll try to be more patient with the next ones that are ripening.

Looking good.  My VbD here in Northern NJ has yet to start to ripen.  Celeste and BT have been providing ripe figs for the last week or two.

My RdB here in NJ are my earliest ripening figs.
A real favorite of mine. Good luck with yours.

I have had 3 or 4 RdB off my new tree.  It was very good, but I just had my first VdB yesterday and it was awesome.  I love the strong berry flavor...almost tasted like raspberry jam.  Unfortunately, my BM is not doing to well so hopefully I will get to taste it next year.  Your trees look great

My RDB has been ripening figs for 2weeks and are almost done , VDB is just starting ,pick a couple yesterday and there are more coming

I was able to harvest two VdB figs before this heat wave started and they were good. But now the ripening VdB figs on my second tree don't plump up, in spite of daily water. They bow over and dry up small, black, dime size. With temps in the lower 100s, I guess it's to be expected, especially since the trees are in full sun. The RdBs are ripening now and threatening to do the same thing. Perhaps late August here isn't a good time for figs. Or should I move the pots to where they will get a little morning sun, then shade for the rest of the day?
"Hot time, summer in the city. Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty...." Time for inside and the air conditioner.

Here near Philadelphia,I had ripe fruits from :
Aug 21
Saint Anthony
Maltese Falcon
Aug 22
Ronde de Bordeaux
Aug 23
Improved Celeste
Aug 25
Malta Black
Aug 27
Atreano
I mean the first fruits,and now they are producing a handful of fruits each day.
These trees are all in ground and were killed close to soil line by last Winter,despite my effort in providing Winter protection.
One thing i noticed:The first ripe fruits were always on trunks that had a little (4 inches or so),of live wood left,in Spring.
So Protecting from frost matter!.
Here is a couple of pixies with my first ripening tree this year,Saint Anthony!.

That is quite the starting lineup.

Mara move all pots to afternoon shade. You will see a difference trust me. I have similar climate in fresno and this works tremendously.

Thanks for the kind words Njfred, coop, shawn and quack.

Herman I started tracking fig ripening dates last year and this year and even despite the recent heat everything is two weeks later for me. Had you found the same to be true?

I'm looking forward to some real jammy interiors of these figs so i am trying to be patient and leave them on the trees later than I would normally.

Yes the figs were late to form fruits,10 days compared to last year.
This year my early cultivars had incipient fruits on June 10,and last year on June 1.

Thank you for the confirmation Herman. This year I'm trying oiling the figs like Bass does and also stripping most leaves off one branch to see if they come along any faster. Never can have too many ripe figs. This heat will be gone before we know it.