How large is the tree?

I have a few trees that are about two to three yrs old. I removed about half and pinched the tips to divert energy to ripening. I'm here in MA so my season may end as early as late Sept. My brebas are still ripening this late in the season.

I would also remove any fruit the size of a pea or smaller. Keep anything the size of a marble or larger. I wouldn't keep more than 15 to 20 figs, but again it depends on how large the fruit and the tree are in relation to one another.

You don't want to over exhaust the tree. This may stunt next years growth and production. Or worse yet, kill the tree. AS long as you keep it in proportion- age of tree and amount of fruit- you should be fine to get ripe fruit and keep the tree healthy.

figeater,

nypd5229 gave you good advice. I would add this. One sign that a tree is already being stressed by trying to ripen too many figs is that the tree drastically slows down or stops putting out healthy new foliage. This usually happens when the figs are close to being ripe. It's better to pick them off when they're small then to let it get to that point.

Joe

Well, my tree is about 5 feet tall. This is the 3rd year I've had it- and the first year I've had figs ripen (I had 2 breba figs last week.) All remaining figs are the main crop, and it would be nice to get some of these to ripen.
Foliage is going crazy this year. In fact, some new branches sprouted right near the soil line, and these do contain figs.
So it seems I should remove any tiny figs. Can you explain what you mean by "pinch the tips"?
I'm totally clueless when it comes to pruning, as I can never understand the terminology.

After a stem has produced 5 to 6 leaves I pinch the growing tip off that branch/stem. I start pinching June 1st., here in Connecticut, zone 5.

I start removing any new fruit embryos after July 21st.

Hope that helps.

Bob