When are figs ready to pick?

Q. We have a small fig tree, about two years old. It has figs in place, but we do not know how to determine when they are ripe for picking.

A. The figs are ready when the neck on the fig starts to bend and the fruit “sags”. Here this white fig is ready and the neck is bent. The green ones are not and are straight.

Once bent you must pick right away. Once they are ready you will pick nearly daily. They do not ripen off of the tree. They must be picked fully ripe.

Bigger Black Mission Figs With More Water

Black Mission figs at The Orchard

 This is what I have been telling you guys. This is taken from the publication, California Agriculture, published back in 1999 by David Goldhamer and Mario Salinas from the University of California Cooperative Extension and the Ag Research Center in Parlier. The research was focused on the San Jaoquin Valley in California.

An analysis of tree-water relations and fruit yield indicates that Black Mission fig production responds favorably to a higher volume of water applied during the summer than is currently used by most of the industry. Larger fruit size was the primary yield component responsible for the improved production and profit. Based on historical reference crop evapotranspiration rates and the crop coefficients determined using data from this study, summer applied water should be about 36 inches for maximum Black Mission fruit production and grower profit in the Madera area.

Bottom line. If you are unhappy with the size of your figs or fig production,

• make sure your fig trees are not water stressed when they are producing figs. 
• Use surface mulches to conserve water, keep the soil from wild fluctuations in water content that will affect fruiting and the mulch helps keep fallen fruit from rotting on the ground.

Open publication - Free publishing - More fig production

July todo: Pick figs

Two crops on one branch: the early crop or Briba crop
is attached to wood produced last year (dark) while the main
crop or later crop is attached to wood produced this
year (green).

Check figs. There are two crops of figs in our climate; the early crop born on last year's wood and the main crop which is produced on wood that grew this year. They will be coming on in July. They do not ripen once they have been removed from the tree. What you pick, is what you get.

          So figs must be picked when they are fully ripe. How do you know? Two ways; one visual and one by feel. Figs that are ready to pick will be soft to the touch and no longer hard.

These kadota figs have changed color from green to yellow
and the neck on the two ripe ones is now bending
indicating they better be harvested NOW

          The narrow part of the fig which attaches to the tree is called its neck. Figs that begin to soften will no longer be erect but their necks will soften and they begin to droop. Look for figs which have necks that can no longer support the weight of the fruit. These are ready to pick.