Growing some fruit and veg for the kitchen table is hard enough what with pesky insects and pests, but community gardeners have an even more infuriating foe to contend with - thieves snitching produce and digging up entire plants.
This has been happening since the community plots were introduced around 15 years ago. Most gardeners can put up with people taking a few cuttings or leaves but they draw the line at ripping off plants and stealing fruit.
Incidents have continued unabated despite new deterrents.
These include community groups erecting signs reminding the public not to pluck edibles without asking and covering rarer plants with nets.
But thefts still happen in each garden at least once a month.
Homemaker Cassandra Ho, 52, who grows edibles in a community garden in Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, said that petty theft is an unfortunate reality.
"My neighbours who look forward to harvesting their big and ripened jackfruit, papayas and winter melon will find them gone the next day," she said. "We try to help to look out for each other's plots and make sure we don't see suspicious people loitering around the plots."
Gardeners said mischief is prevalent in the middle of the night and early morning, but some thefts have occurred right under their noses.
Last week, full-time gardener Raymond Tang, 45, who has a plot in the Social Innovation Park in Punggol, spotted a woman plucking some of his blue pea flowers. "She apologised and said she saw no one to approach for permission before plucking. I told her if no one was around, she should have left the plants alone."
A number of community gardens have fencing or are locked but people can sneak in when they are open.
"Sometimes, the culprits can be the gardeners also, especially if they want to grow veggies quickly, instead of starting from the seeds," noted Ms Ho.
Gardening enthusiast Alex Ng, 48, refuses to use community and allotment plots because he is worried about theft, as he has seen such incidents mentioned on social media.
The pastry chef is an experimental gardener who grows challenging plants such as blackberry, fig and longan, and he does not want them to be stolen. Instead, he rents a private plot for $400 a month in a farm area near Sembawang.
Community garden theft cases are rarely reported to the authorities.
"We choose to talk and explain to the person, if we know who he or she is. We don't bring it up to the MP or police," said retiree Frankie Tan, 55, who is also a Community in Bloom (CIB) ambassador.
CIB ambassadors are volunteers under the National Parks Board (NParks) who help to set up community gardens.
But a man who stole nine bonsai plants worth $12,400 from Yuhua Community Centre and a Residents' Corner Garden in Jurong East was jailed for 12 months in 2016.
There are 1,500 community gardens and 1,100 allotment gardens islandwide. By 2030, NParks aims to more than double the number of gardens, but gardeners are not convinced that theft will end with more plots being set up.
"This is an issue with people's mindset and mentality. If some people are lazy to grow plants, they take the easy way out," said Mr Tang.
Meanwhile, community gardeners have come up with creative and generous ways to prevent theft.
"A few gardeners in Bishan will wrap their papayas in cloth or take them home to ripen. We have to be faster than the person who wants to grab them," said Ms Ho.
She randomly tosses papaya seeds to other plots to prevent theft within the garden, saying: "When others have what you have, the tendency to take will not be high. That is my strategy."
