What could be done to prevent White Kadota figs from being dry and pithy inside, even after the figs get soft, droopy and easy to pick off the tree? This year even the birds and the figeater beetles are leaving most of our Kadota figs alone because so few figs are swelling up and getting sweet, most are dry, not moist. 

We have a large White Kadota fig tree that we've pretty much ignored for years so most of the figs it produced were out of reach unless one used a ladder. Two years ago we cut it back from about 25' to 15' tall. Last year, we cut it back to about 8' tall. The average rainfall in Waddell, AZ is around 7-8 inches per year; our climate is Zone 9. We flood irrigate approximately every two weeks during the summer, fertilize three times a year with an all purpose product containing minor elements. The months of June and July during 2016 and 2017 were very hot and dry with several weeks of 108˚+ daily high temperatures. 

We planted the Kadota because it was on sale at a box store and its figs are supposed to have a closed eye. Dried fruit beetles are a big problem here; the few Kadota figs that were moist inside have been soured by insects this year. 

In contrast to the Kadota, a newly planted Violette de Bordeaux tree and a China Honey tree have produced good figs with the same watering & fertilizing schedules during our summer weather. 

The Kadota has produced good figs in the past. It is very frustrating to lose the fig crop two years in a row. Does anyone know what causes dried out figs or have suggestions for preventing them? 

Did you have some of that reccord breaking heat? Maybe they needed extra water back then?

Yes, Lewi, recently the metropolitan Phoenix area has had two summers of record breaking dry heat. 

June, 2016 https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/phoenix-az/85004/june-weather/346935?monyr=6/1/2016&view=table
July, 2016 https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/phoenix-az/85004/july-weather/346935?monyr=7/1/2016&view=table

June, 2017 https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/phoenix-az/85004/june-weather/346935?monyr=6/1/2017&view=table
July, 2017 https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/phoenix-az/85004/july-weather/346935?monyr=7/1/2017&view=table

You asked a critically important question, because we treated our Kadota tree differently than we did our newer fig trees. Our China Honey and Violette de Bordeaux trees are young and have only been in the ground 2 years (CH) and 1 year (VDB), so we gave them supplemental water in between flood irrigations. We thought the mature Kadota tree that had been reduced in size did not need additional water because its leaves didn't wilt and the figs didn't fall off or seem to be affected by the heat until it was time for them to ripen. Next summer we can try watering the Kadota tree between flood irrigations to see whether or not that will solve the problem.

Thank you for your comment!

Hi,
Dry figs could be due to the tree lacking water and thus being unable to raise quality figs.
You could start watering it more this year already.
On smaller trees (my trees are kept in between 1.20/4' and 3m/10' of height) I use 22liters/5 gallons per tree per watering twice a week ( or once a week) .
Two weeks in between two waterings is rude especially if you dirt is sandy and doesn't retain water.
You could try and mulch (with straw ...) the foot of the tree too in an effort to keep it fresh.
When my trees lack water, their leaves start to slightly curl and then some would yellow and fall with some fruits too falling to the ground.
I keep my trees well watered in an effort to get the best out of them.

Thanks for sharing your experience and advice, jdsfrance. On Tuesday 8-8 our high temperature reached 107˚F. / 41.6˚C. and on Wednesday it was 109˚F. / 42.7˚C. We are going to take your advice about watering more frequently for the rest of the summer and also about mulching our fig tree. It is likely that we have been keeping our tree too dehydrated to produce figs just because its leaves looked OK in between irrigations. I appreciate the information about your fig trees' heights because we do not want to have to carry a ladder around our orchard to pick fruit any longer; that's why we pruned our fig tree so much shorter during the last winters of 2015 and 2016.