what causes it? i thought it might be due to fig getting ripe and soft. but last few days i had rather nicely ripe Calvert and Ishia Green, both didn't have crack. i haven't had them before, so i'm not sure if they will crack.

but Paradiso Gene i had yesterday was very well ripen, and it didn't have any skin crack. last yr, with much less rain during the first main crop, almost all the Paradiso Gene had cracked skin. rather, this one had little firmer skin.. does the constant rain thicken the skin?

Pete , I wouldn't think it's the rain. I have several varieties with no
cracking and others that do. I would thin it is the ripening process of
the fig and amount of moisture in the skin.

mike, maybe the hot sun will dry out the skin and that causes the crack. but with ton of humidity, it's preventing the skin to dry out properly for it to crack. just like the look of cracked skin.. makes the fig more appealing to me.

I think some are just that way, or have more of a tendency to do it. I am sure some is environmental, probably having to do with conditions that cause the skin to toughen or et "fixed" at a certain size, before they begin the swelling process when getting ripe, and that swelling causes the cracking.

thinking back to last yr,i remember having figs that were more appealing during the first main crops. the late main crops were more or less like this yrs main crops. lot of ugly skins. i guess the earlier main crops have advantage in look due to dry and sunny days. the figs hang on the trees longer into the late summer and fall will get lot of rain and lot of blemish... since all the figs are late this yr, i guess they will all be ugly.

It's sweet goodness that cannot be contained, straining to get out. Other than that, no idea.

What may cause the skin to crack in our yard on the figs .

1. Probably my singing to them in the morning.
2. When they hear the crackling of the fire in the burn can in the evening.

I thought what caused the crack on figs was a WOC (wasp on crack)!  Since he could not get inside of the fig, he would stomp all over the fig causing it to crack.  He he he.

too many wasp stumping on my figs last yr, i bet. this yr, even wasps are not coming around. too much rain. on the good side, birds are not near my trees either.

pete r u saying uve noticed more cracks in drier weather?

my guess was its variety plus the opposite... too much water around too rapid swell? guess not

hey persian, not the split due to too much water, but skin crack that shows on some of the figs. they are mostly only on skin and doesn't go deep enough to spoil the figs.

yup were talkin side cracks like on kathleens black, not spoilage, but ur noticining more cracks in drier conditions and on thinner skin? i think I've noticed skin getting more coarse in rain. I'm not sure about slight side cracks, but thats a very interesting question...

i noticed that during the late summer/early fall here, we usually get some rain.. and cooler weather. and figs ripening during that time gets thicker skin, and i don't notice typical crack on the skin. i think cooler weather might have something to do with it. when hot and humid, the skin will get dried and it might have more reason to crack, maybe?

I notice a lot of the more desired figs get cracks. Does that mean we are all somehow crack addicts?

lol

There are several kinds of "Crack" addicts, I suppose, but no rehab for our kind, thank goodness!

I was wondering about this for awhile, I have been growing figs in Hawaii for almost 10 years and have never seen a single crack on the skin yet.  But it is very cool and rainy here, so that might be why. 

Also wondering if figs splitting and getting a watered down taste from rain is something that only happens in dry places.  I was thinking maybe if its dry,  the plant is starving for moisture and absorbs to much,  it goes into the figs, it swells them up and they split.  But if the fig always has constant moisture and it rains, it does not over absorb the water and the figs don't split or get a watered down taste. 




Sid  

I think you nailed it Sid.Kind of like tomatoes. consistent watering and they dont crack or split.