You can destroy it as you go up to your base, or break it completely and remember the coords. If you have an elytra, you don't ned a ladder to climb, you can just fly up using a punch 2 bow. However, if you do not have an elytra, it takes more time getting up and breaking the pillar as you go.
Correction: Chorus fruit only sells for $7 each. How do you know when they are full grown? Sometimes I'll get a plant that grows up 3 blocks, then the flower on top dies. Will it keep growing? Can you trim flowers as it grows? It seems like it stops growing after you cut anything off. How do you access the top of your plants? Some kind of scaffolding? Thanks
Chorus fruit, to my understanding, was changed since this thread came out. Once the flower gets 'matured' it will stop growing. The wiki says that a flower can be randomly matured at any point during it's growth. The only places it will grow are from young flowers. Not matured ones. If you gut off the flowers it's like cutting off the bud to a tree. I personally hate farming seeds from the fully grown plants, so I build a structure that limits the plants height, making the seeds grow at eye level.
No one can go invisible in the end on /near. However, some players use invisibility potions when they come close to you, so make sure to check /near once in a while. Also, if you don't have voidwalker and your /near is up to 500 blocks, someone can still sneak up on you with an elytra. You can travel hundreds of blocks fast using one, so checking /near every 30 seconds wouldn't help you, unless you have a bigger radius.
I do have void walker and someone flew at me without a glider (fly potion?) While completely invisible on /near every 10 seconds. I must learn how to do this!
I can do that when I get back from vacation Edit: When I have time to put together a more advanced guide.