My fiancé ruined my basil? Can I bring it back

[Elyse]

My beautiful basil plant that I nursed from a seed into a large wonderful bushy plant was, as I believe, ruined tonight. My fiancé, in a very sweet gesture made pesto. This is why we grow basil, so we can use it!! Unfortunately, he simply yanked the leaves off the stem instead of cutting it down between the leaves in the correct pruning form as I have shown him. I'm staring at 2 bald stalks sticking out of the ground.

Is there anything I can do to save them? Do I need to cut the stalks down to dirt level and try again? Will more leaves grow where they used to be?

 

[Chuck]

My beautiful basil plant that I nursed from a seed into a large wonderful bushy plant was, as I believe, ruined tonight. My fiancé, in a very sweet gesture made pesto. This is why we grow basil, so we can use it!! Unfortunately, he simply yanked the leaves off the stem instead of cutting it down between the leaves in the correct pruning form as I have shown him. I'm staring at 2 bald stalks sticking out of the ground.

Is there anything I can do to save them? Do I need to cut the stalks down to dirt level and try again? Will more leaves grow where they used to be?

Without a picture it is impossible to determine what damage was done if any. Basil loves to be pruned albeit maybe not as much as you describe but if you leave it alone for awhile it will regrow and be bushier than ever. Please don't mistreat your boyfriend as, I am sure, this was/is a learning experience for both of you

 

[petesede]

You can try to find any buds or anything and strip the stalks back to them. If the root system is good, it could survive, Healthy plants are really resilient to disasters like that.

How was the pesto?

 

[sillylucy]

Omg that made me think of the time my boyfriend dropped my bell pepper plant and I yelled at him because all of the fresh potting soil was all over the place. It was a mistake. You will have to let it go and get a new plant or just give this one some time to rebound. I hope that was the best pesto you ever tasted in your life!

 

[atlmom5]

I wish you had a picture, but I think it will be fine and grow back a lot bushier. Just had pesto last night and it was delicious, I hope the pesto eased your mind a little bit.

 

[Marck]

From your description, I don't think your Basil (Ocimum basilicum) plant was damaged. If your fiancé only removed the leaves, then just go back and clip off the now bare stems. The end result will be the same if the stems were cut off with the leaves still on them.