Don't prune it next year and
see if your figs ripen ?
What type of fig tree is it ?

If I didn't cut it back I'd never be able to cover it. I do get figs, but so many do not ripen. I was thinking of cutting the tips (2') to stop top growth and removing non-productive stems. Even with cutting it back for winter, new stems will reach 12' or more before frost.
The tree came from a sprout from the home of an Italian in NJ. I moved here in '92.

Taxus you type
I cut my fig back to 5' and cover it for the winter. It grows rapidly and has many figs that do not ripen. Is there a way to prune in the summer that would encourage ripening?

Answer is yes.
watch the new growth count 4 -6 pair of leaves on each and then snip the end. Do this on each branch.
Now you will get constant new growth at or near the point you snip off keep those off as well.
This is what i do and family had done for years to get figs to ripen in our short growing season in and near Chicago.
Martin
Member- Garden Web, Figs4Fun, Friends of The Fig Society

taxus-man, where is "here"? Are you still in NJ? I'm in 5b but too chicken to put a fig in the ground. How do you protect it?

-Little John

Are your trees in the ground or potted? Sounds like something I can use, but I will let them grow a little more that that. One year I had more than 100 figs. Ideal winter, spring and summer.