I was a member here almost a couple of years ago. I didn't post a lot but I read most of the posts and checked in almost daily to read what others had posted.  After spending over a year working in another country I am home again and ready to get back into my fig hobby, which I missed greatly. Unfortunately I returned home to the worst drought on record in our state (Texas) and I discovered that some of my trees had died (disabled family member living here while I was gone tried to care for them to the best of his ability, but the drought and intense heat for months on end were just too much for some of the trees. 

Anyway, I will be reading posts here, maybe I will contribute a little from time to time. 

Welcome Back.

The drought in Texas was/is horrible.  I did not get any fruit this year from any tree.  I watered the trees enough to keep them alive in hopes of a better next year.  I did lose a couple of fig trees, many fig cuttings I had rooted in the ground, and several other fruit trees due the heat and lack of water.  All in all, I think I came out of the summer okay.  What made the situation worse is we had a little bit of rain in early October.  My trees put on more growth during the month than they had since their initial push at the beginning of the season.  In late October we had a 25F weather with strong winds.  It has just not been a good year.

A representative of the NOAA was in Houston this past week and was asked about the drought.  Unfortunately, she indicated the popular thought is next year will be worse.  I've been wanting to plant some fruit trees (peaches, apricots, pears and persimmons), but have been hesitant to do so.

~james

Hi James.  I had heard that the drought was supposed to continue through next summer/fall, and with all the dead trees I am seeing in the woods and every conceivable place, I am afriad that forested east Texas may begin to resemble north Texas. 

My other fruit trees got through the drought ok, although I was told what fruit they formed were shed pretty quickly. But the trees themselves are ok and are now going dormant. They were on soaker hoses and I think that may have helped.  I have a Fuyu persimmon in the yard and there were about half a dozen fruit hanging on it, but they were only about the size of a large egg, no nearly as big as they normally get, and they had been pecked by birds. I guess they have to eat, too.  My citrus did fruit, but about half of it is so sour it's not edible. Year before last they were delicious, sweet and a bit tart but not sour, and so I was disappointed to return and find what looked like wonderful satsumas but when opened, they were far too sour to eat. I guess the drought did that.

I ordered two of the Zaiger low chill cherries and expect them to arrive in January or February. I got them on the extremely dwarfing rootstock and I am thinking I will keep them in containers for the first year until I see how the drought is going to work out.  They weren't cheap and I don't want to plant them and have them die and just waste all that money.  I am hoping they do well here. I don't think there is a lot of information on how they handle our hot humid weather yet, so I guess I am experimenting to some extent.

If you plant fruit trees, I'd suggest putting them on soaker hoses if you can. I bought the cheap black ones from Wal Mart and I think at the time they were about $7 each, 50' long.  But if it gets to the point where the lakes and aquifers are so low that watering is either rationed or forbidden, then all bets are off and I guess my trees will die too. 

I'm in the same boat as you GoodDaughter, ever since I joined the Air Force I haven't much time to care for figs. I had one tree but some stole it. I also can't wait until I get a house somewhere so I can hop back into the hobby. I'm from Texas also but I didn't hear anything about a bad drought. I hope everything is going good in Houston.

Someone stole your fig tree? Wow. Someone sure was brave.

Things in Houston (Houston-ish) were great today as the area got between 1.5" to 5" of rain. I got about 2" here, not as much rain as some places got, but I think it rained slowly enough that most of it soaked in as opposed to running off.

Yes, Texas had the worst drought on record, according to some reports, or the second worst according to others. The weather guy just said today was the most rain the area has received in the past 18 months.

I hope you find a house soon too.