I'm with denni & fruitnut. Loss of leaves has nothing to do with it. Translucent appearance and softening are prime indicators. Usually, if they're dropping off, they're ripe, but every variety differs. I don't have NG bearing yet, but its hybrid parent, Rosseyanka, holds its fruit on the tree well into December here - and must either be snipped off or pulled free from the calyx. Currently, the tree is bare of leaves, and the fruits are yellow-orange, but still firm - and probably astringent; however, I've sampled Rosseyanka fruits that were picked at this stage, peeled, sliced, and dried, and they are marvelous, with no astringency remaining. I'll usually let those hang on the tree until they're soft and translucent, or we're due for a good hard freeze, then pull them off and freeze them for consumption as persimmon-sicles throughout the winter.

Good luck with your fig trees. PLEASE read all the prior postings regarding the over-wintering of small, fig trees. Growing fig trees is almost never a problem. Keeping them alive in colder climate zones is almost always a problem. It can be done. Proper precautions will be necessary. We all do it in the colder climate zones. Frank

Nice tree, Marjorie! Thanks for the pics. Steve, that fist Mandarinquat I picked was very bland and not juicy. I left it on the tree way too long. But the next harvest was all together different. I really, really liked the taste. I use them squeezed in soda water. Dave in NoVA nailed it on flavor - it's like a big, juicy kumquat. A bit sweeter.. I much prefer these over kumquats. It is a seedy fruit. My tree has grown so much in 3 years. I had a hard time carrying it in/out of the door over winter (put it outside on warm days). Need to prune it this year. I'll try to upload a current pic soon.

steve I'm going to try my hand at grafting in a couple of months on some citrus for the first time. I'm going to try a lemon cocktail and a mandarin cocktail. If I'm successful then I will try a gold series mandarin( yosemite,tahoe,shasta.G,N,) and a satsuma series as well with 4 varieties.