>>>The bark was back [black?] and sooty looking,
This black stuff, is a typical fungal byproduct
from MANY insect excremenst.
ID the insect and spray accordingly.

It wasn't sooty mold gorgi. No sooty mold on leaves either. The bark was charred and split like it had been through a fire. The branches were very disfigured, knarly, twisted, swollen, almost the way root knot nemotodes look on roots but this was on the branches and twigs. I understand root knot nemotodes can infect figs and I have had some infestation in some pentas about 10 feet away. Is it nemotodes? Any more/other ideas before I remove the entire thing? I'd love to rescue it.

Peachpaws. I don't think you did anything wrong. I assume you live in Florida? It sounds like your tree has rust on the leaves. This is not uncommon and probably was exaserbated if not started by the rain. Most figs in the Houston area (and a good bit of Texas) lose their leaves to rust in the early fall only to grow the leaves back until the first hard frost in January. Look for foliar sprays with copper if you want to treat the tree. In most cases gathering the leaves and disposing of them (trash not compost or burning) will help lessen the chances of reinfection next year (it is virtually impossible to eliminate rust infection in some areas like Houston). Good luck. Yadda out.

Thanks Yaddo, I'll give that a go.
peachpaws