Close the Crop Cycle Properly: Don’t Waste the Plant
Today I did something that felt a little brutal at first.
I terminated my pineapple plant.
Not because it was “bad.”
Not because it failed.
But because on a balcony, space is limited — and every pot is valuable.
And I needed that big pot for something else.
That’s part of real growing: sometimes you don’t “keep everything.”
Sometimes you choose what stays and what goes.
It’s Not Failure — It’s Reallocation
When people see a plant removed, they assume something went wrong.
But farming doesn’t always work like that.
Sometimes a plant is removed because:
- it takes too long
- it occupies too much space
- it blocks other crops
- it doesn’t match the current season
- it no longer fits the plan
In other words:
A plant can be healthy and still be the wrong plant for the system.
And a balcony is a system.
The Hidden Harvest
While clearing the pineapple, I discovered something I didn’t expect.
Inside the plant was the ubod — the tender inner heart.
In the Philippines, ubod is food.
We eat coconut ubod raw. It’s crisp, fresh, and clean.
And yes — pineapple ubod is edible too.
I didn’t plan to harvest it.
I didn’t even know I would.
But there it was:
A bonus harvest hiding inside a plant I thought I was “throwing away.”
 |
| Bonus harvest: pineapple ubod — reclaimed from a plant I was about to discard. |
A Crop Cycle Isn’t Just Growth
A crop cycle is not only:
Seed → Plant → Harvest
It is also:
Plant → Decision → Removal → Recovery → Next Crop
That “removal” part is often ignored, but it matters.
Because if you end a crop badly, you carry problems into the next one:
- pests
- diseases
- depleted soil
- bad habits
- wasted space
But if you close a crop properly:
- you learn
- you harvest what you can
- you reset the pot
- you upgrade the system
- you move forward cleanly
The Balcony Farmer Mindset
Balcony farming is not about having many plants.
It’s about making each pot count.
Sometimes the win is not:
“Look at my harvest.”
Sometimes the win is:
“Look at the space I reclaimed.”
And sometimes, if you’re lucky, you get both.
I cleared the pot.
I got the ubod.
Quid pro quo.
Still a win.
Next Project: Strawberries 🍓
This pineapple pot is now being repurposed for my next balcony experiment: strawberries.
I’m preparing a proper soil mix and also testing hydroponics methods (Kratky / DWC) to see what works best in Singapore’s heat and humidity.
If you’re following along, the strawberry updates will be linked in future posts here on LeChaim Farm.
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