Once a Brie has been cut in that state, it will seldom ripen properly.

Avocados must be mature to ripen properly.

But picked too green, an apricot will just turn soft and mealy, never ripening properly.

The earth is not good any longer, so the plums never ripen properly.

"Some of it can never ripen properly."

Even the fuzzy peaches sold in the Greenmarkets are often too green and fail to ripen properly.

The same late ripening variety might also fail in the colder areas 100 mile north because of the shorter summer not allowing enough time to properly ripen before cold weather sets in.

We had a fig tree in the garden of our previous house in Bedfordshire and while every branch was covered with green figs all year round only a handful ever ripened properly.

These areas were typically cooled by coastal breezes, fogs or elevation, but warmed up enough in the daytime and into the fall for the grapes to ripen properly.

So far north, very good sites with a warm microclimate are needed to properly ripen red wine grapes, and the Ahr vineyards are said to have a "Mediterranean" microclimate.