I have the exact problem - vigorous vines but no flowering for 2 years now in the same location that 3 years and before I had many beans. My treliis is actually an arbor than can be walked under @ 7 feet high. My pH is 7-7.5, micronutrients are not lacking, N is low but P &K are excessive. Am adding sulfur to lower pH but suspect the problem is something else. I've checked into toxicants from tree roots (not too far away) but not sure on that. I regularly add hardwood leaf compost mixed with grass clippings so am wondering if that is a factor. Sunlight is 6 hours a day so don't think that's the problem. We had severe Spring droughts for the past 2 years, but I've watered every other day though wonder if I was getting enough down for uptake during the bloom period. Temperatures were excessive - mid 90's- so am suspecting that as the main culprit. Am to the point of pruning the layering vines in hopes of getting results when things cool in the Fall. I've typically had excellent blooming & bean production just before the first frost. Other experiences? Advice?

I second the advice to get a soil test. It is relatively inexpensive, gives you a lot of information and comes back fairly quickly. You can get it through your U of A extension service, I think it is probably still up on Campbell. Until you do that, you're really feeling your way around in the dark. You should also let them know about your specific issues, there might be extra testing they can do for some common chemicals. Burning in and of itself should do no harm, only add to the alkalinity of the soil, but who knows what they used to suppress the fire...? No idea if that would affect it or no. Your soil will cake up if you are working wet clay, a big no-no. The mulch and compost is great for softening the soil and make it more moisture retentive, so checking it wouldn't be a big deal, and even then you can just scratch a little back. Mulching is *huge* in desert gardening, be it organic or even rock - anything to aid in cooling the roots, especially of non-desert plants of the type you're planting. I'm guessing you're saying that your soil is a mixture of sand and clay and not that you're mixing the two - that would = cement, and could be a part of the problem. Have you seen any of your plants growing well in your neighborhood? Also, longer term residents might be able to tell you if something happened on your site. But from your description, my best bet is that the holes that you're making in the caliche may not be sufficient to let the roots spread out; you might want to dig one of the dead plants out and see if it stretched out beyond the original root ball, or did they run into caliche immediately? You also want to test your drainage - caliche tends to form in sheets and if you had to get thru one, there is a good chance of another below it. Anywho, "they" now say that it's much more important to make a wider hole than a deep one, for the root spread problem precisely. BTW, I wouldn't waste my time asking folks at Lowe's for plant advice, although they put a few through some master gardener classes, few have the experience to do much more than scratch the surface of gardening. And steer manure... well.... unless it's really well composted, you're adding a lot of salt to an already salty soil. I saw an ad on Craig's list for horse manure today, you might think about that or the city of Tucson used to make compost out of their clippings and give it away. Hope this is helpful, best of luck to you!

I wonder if they were only 3 inches if they needed to be potted longer? Just a guess - I've never grown them from cuttings.

I've had perfectly good results using tap water and clear glass. IMO, it may depend on the basil variety - and perhaps the time of year. I have a large, vigorous variety I actually started from store-bought branches I stuck in a glass of water on my windowsill. FWIW, it seems like my herb cuttings are more likely to grow in spring and summer, than in fall and winter. Look for stems with nubs on them - those are adventitious roots that will grow, given the right conditions. Here's a pic - not my own - to give you an idea of what they can look like: And I do often use distilled water instead of tap water.