One winter when it got down into the upper teens/low 20's I had a huge one in the ground that totally died. Now I keep them all in large pots that I sink into the ground (the pots have holes on the sides and the bottom) after frost is over. They go into the greenhouse in the winter. They grow up a wood post that is in the pots. It isn't the greatest thing because I am always having pieces breaking off when I move them which limits the flowering. I have had some fruits but not as many as if I could just leave them all in one spot all the time. I don't keep my greenhouse up all year long or I might just leave them in there permanently. This year I was thinking about building something over just the dragon fruit: like planting it all in one long raised bed and make a huge trellis over it all and then I could cover it all up with some type of small removable greenhouse and run a heater in there if it freezes. I could take it off the rest of the year. One of the other problems I have with them is fire ants. The ants get on the ends of the limbs and eat them. I have used NEEM, DE, all kinds of stuff they just come back again. I can't use anything too toxic due to free ranging chickens, ducks, etc.

Melissa, You're welcome. Tell us a little more about the 'softness' of the melons. Are they uniformly soft all over like some kind of fruit that's gone too ripe, or are they soft just in one spot? And, if so, is it the spot where the melon rests on the ground? If you are seeing a wet-looking spot, which I guess a proper horticulturalist would refer to as a water-soaked lesion, on the fruit in the area of the soft spot, then it would be Watermelon Fruit Blotch disease. I've never seen it in a home gardern but it is transmitted by seed, so it could happen. I'll link a photo of it below so you'll know what to watch for. I'm thinking your heavy rainfall this year is just too much for them. Melons can be tricky to grow because too much water or too much fertilizer can cause a physiological problem called white heart in the interior or the melon. There are no symptoms and you won't know a melon has it until you cut into it and find white, tasteless flesh inside your melon. Sadly, watermelons can absorb more water than is good for them. I don't know that you'd see softness on the exterior of the fruit with white heart, but we've had enough rain recently that anyone growing melons could potentially see white heart so it wouldn't surprise me if the excess moisture is somehow making your melons soft. I've never seen that happen here, but my area is rarely as moist as the rest of the state. Black Diamond, of all melons, has an especially firm rind, so the 'softness' you're seeing surprises and concerns me. I just think it can't be a good thing. If the melons are really small and enlarging fast, they might outgrow that softness, but if they are already pretty large, they likely won't. Since the plants look good, I'm inclined to think you can blame the softness on the moisture. The real questions is if there's enough moisture to soften that melon, will the interior of the melon be good eating quality and there's no way to know that for sure. So, let me know if you're seeing a blotchy spot, and if the melons are soft in one or two place, on the ground spot, or all over. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful:

This gives you the current date in history, or you can click on the little link for a previous date and get more info. I'm still looking for one that goes by the year. Here is a link that might be useful: History Channel

Posted to craigslist, thanks for the advice - just honed in on this forum due to the concentration of fig lovers, but craigslist makes more sense since y'all are all over the country and world - my bad!