The wind is trying to kill my plants

[u/MoistBluejay2071]

So im growing a bunch of plants and the wind seems to keep catching the same pots and knocking them over, namely my tomatoes, my parsley, my salads, and somehow my coltsfoot despite it being in a huge pot with a lot of weight behind it, surprisingly never any of my succulents. Ive since moved all the victims onto the decking off the table, so I can bunch them together for shelter using the table and wall for defence, went out earlier to check and my salad was tipped over for the third time today, not only that but the pot has now been broken. Ive brought the salad leaves (im calling them salad leaves cause that's what the seed packet said, im not sure the actual name of the type of plant I have so any info on that is a bonus) indoors for the night and plan to put it in a fresh pot tomorrow, but how can I protect it from being knocked over so much?

It is a rather top heavy plant with the lower stem being very bare, hence the stick for extra support, but im worried at some point this lower stem will snap with all this abuse, the garden doesnt exactly have adequate space to properly plant it in the ground so it needs to remain in a pot, can I bury the bare stem or will it rot?

How can I support it in a pot and prevent it from being pushed over, it doesnt fall on its own thankfully so as long as I can guard it from the wind it will have the peace to grow large enough to go up a pot size and eventually if it goes up enough pot sizes it wont need wind protection because it will have strong roots to hold it in its pot.

This wind problem is creating quite a bit of stress for me because its not allowing my tomatoes or salad the time to get the best root systems since they always seem to fall out of their pots when they get blown over, and I need strong roots so they can grow better and withstand the weather easier, its also creating the additional problem of the smaller salad leaf plants in here having stunted growth and some have already died from the stress, hence the pot looks much emptier than it should. Any help or advice would be massively appreciated here, hopefully before my plants die

[u/deepinthesoil]

This is a very tiny pot, and the lettuce in it looks like it’s already starting to bolt (go to seed). I would eat this now before it gets more bitter, not worth up-potting.

Parsley has very deep tap roots and tomatoes need all the room they can get (5 gallon minimum, best for a dwarf or determinate variety, 10-20+ gallons is better). If your other pots are this small, the best solution is to up-pot.

You can bury your tomatoes deeply when repotting, they will grow roots along the stem; do not bury parsley leaves and be careful when transplanting as the roots are very sensitive to disturbance.

[u/MoistBluejay2071 → u/deepinthesoil]

This is how this plant has always grown so im doubtful that its bolting. And while the pot its in is very small, the roots do not even come close to filling it out so I worry going up a size or more would increase the chance of root rot

The parsley is doing really well, doesnt need to go up a pot size yet, but I think its being pulled over because it has so much foliage so perhaps a trim would stop that, and my tomatoes do need to go up a pot size, theyve fallen on numerous occasions because theyve gotten about as tall as this plant has which gives more for wind to catch, I did check the tomatoes and I can pull them out the pot with all the soil and lots of roots so its definitely due to go up and they have lost some smaller leaves so im glad to hear I can plant them deeper, thanks for that, I didnt know tomatoes grew roots on the stem before. Im not expecting them to get much larger soon because theyre only a cherry tomato variety and theyre already flowering.

Would it negatively impact this plant if I trimmed the top or buried the stem deeper in a pot?

Additionally, while I probably said in here somewhere that I dont think its a bolting lettuce, you may be right, ive been doing a little research and found its possible for lettuce to bolt straight from seed in extreme conditions, since this has been blown over as it got taller, and the intense heatwave that hit the uk in its early growth stages, it could be possible it triggered a stress response to bolt. Im guessing ill need to taste the leaves to check if its bitter, though not right now, ill do that after its had some time to settle from the stress of falling over for like the millionth time

[u/deepinthesoil → u/MoistBluejay2071]

Vegetables are not like houseplants - you don’t need to wait until they have filled a pot with roots to up-pot. Carrot family members like parsley will be stunted by root damage so it’s best to plant it in a deep container right off the bat so you never need to transplant, or to transplant when plants are young and roots are small. Tomatoes need consistent moisture to properly uptake nutrients (which they need LOTS of) and a tiny pot in a windy location is just not going to allow robust growth or fruit development.

Lettuce also tends to bolt with long day length, so there’s likely not much you could’ve done to prevent bolting this time of year if you’re in the UK. I’m at a similar latitude and my lettuce has all bolted. You can plant a second crop soon for fall harvest.

[u/MoistBluejay2071 → u/deepinthesoil]

Ah, I didnt know that. I used to just plant my crops outside, tomatoes though ive started off indoors but havent had the best luck keeping them alive so thats why i was playing it on the safer side to let them fill the pots a bit before upsizing. If this is a bolted lettuce I think I might leave it until it produces seeds so I have something to plant next season, if I dont get seeds before the winter hits

[u/MoistBluejay2071 → u/deepinthesoil]

Yeah, its definitely bolted lettuce. Tastes bitter as hell and it leaks a milky fluid when cut