bok choy seedlings

Seedlings need to be exposed to hardship.

If you pamper them too much when they are young, keep them indoors for the first few weeks of their lives, out of the wind, out of the cold -- they grow thin and spindly, and when the are finally exposed to the real world outdoors, their survival rate is low.

But if you take them outside for a few hours at a time when they are young, maybe even all day; and protect them from real threats like birds and squirrels, but let them be buffetted by the wind and let them suffer a little of the temperature swings of the day -- then they become stout and hardy, and are likely to survive the transition of a transplant into the real world.