Pruning basil can feel a little dramatic the first time, especially when a once-bushy grocery-store plant suddenly looks almost stripped bare.
That was the concern for one new visitor to the r/gardening subreddit, who worried they had gone too far after pruning a grocery-store basil plant based on online advice.
What's happening?
Their Reddit post captured that exact moment of panic. The original poster shared a before-and-after of a heavily cut-back basil plant and titled their post: "No seriously … Did I do this right???"
They added in the post's text: "Followed directions I saw online but holy crap the amount of basil??? Will this really grow back quickly?? It looks so sad."
Indeed, the images showed a loaded basil plant overflowing with leaves. After the pruning, they had a ton of basil, but the plant looked almost naked.
Most of the replies suggested that, while the plant looked severe after the trim, it was not necessarily doomed.
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One commenter reassured the gardener, though advised some restraint for the next time.
"Generally you don't want to trim more than 30% of the plant's leaves in any one go, but also … you did a great job with that guy!" they wrote. "It'll probably be mad for a while, but baby it for a bit and I bet it'll bounce back."
Several commenters said the bigger problem may have been the way the basil was sold.
"They overcrowd these pots with too many basil seeds planted in a single area," they suggested.
Why does it matter?
That reaction is familiar to many first-time herb growers because supermarket basil can be deceptive.
For people hoping to save money by growing herbs instead of buying fresh bunches again and again, a healthy basil plant can provide multiple harvests, helping cut grocery costs while offering fresher, better-tasting leaves for pasta, sandwiches, and pesto. It can even ward off pests.
The discussion also touched on food waste. If you trim more basil than you can use right away, it does not have to be thrown out.
"I put it in the food processor with a little olive oil," a user suggested. "Then put it in a zip lock bag and flattened it to get the air out and put it in the freezer. You can break off pieces as you need it and it lasts a long time."
What can I do?
A hard prune can leave basil looking bare, especially in a grocery-store pot, but the plant often pushes new growth from the nodes left behind. Gardeners in the thread also noted that taking too much at once is usually not ideal.
After the plant recovers, thinning or separating some of the crowded stems may help reduce competition in the pot. Commenters also emphasized being careful with watering after pruning, since a stressed plant can struggle if the soil swings too wet or too dry.
Extra basil does not have to go to waste, either, as the user's freezer tip showed.
As for the original poster, they took up one poster's encouragement to make pesto with some tasty-looking results.
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