Sapling

Sapling

Type	Plant
Stackable	Yes (64)
Damage	{{{damage}}}
Protection	{{{protection}}} x
Durability	{{{durability}}}
First Appearance	{{{firstver}}}
Filtering	{{{filters}}}
Buoyancy	{{{buoy}}}
Gravity	No
Flammable	{{{flammable}}}
Data Value	{{{data}}}

Saplings are an important resource obtained from leaves that allows trees to be grown. There are four naturally occurring types of saplings: oak, birch, spruce, and jungle. A fifth type of sapling, blood wood, must be crafted by the player and planted in the Nether.

All types of saplings have a 1/20 chance of dropping when leaves are broken or decay except jungle saplings, which have a 1/40 chance of dropping. Each type of tree has its own type of sapling. Most tree canopies will drop at least one sapling block, though they may drop more, and large tree canopies should drop several if completely deleaved.

Growth

Natural Saplings

Oak, birch, spruce, and jungle saplings can grow on any dirt or grass block, and grow into a tree, permitted they are exposed to a light level of at least 9, and have a certain number of air blocks above them, depending on the sapling type (oak and birch saplings need 6, while spruce saplings need 7). However, they will grow slower if they have fewer than 10 blocks above the dirt. Saplings will grow faster if planted in a fertilized dirt planter. Beware that they will not grow at all in an unfertilized planter.

They will pop out of the ground if they are not exposed to a light level of at least 8, but will not pop out of the ground if they do not have enough headroom, provided they still have sufficient light. In this way they can be used as decoration in structures provided they don't have room to grow into full trees, or the block above is never exposed to a light level of 9 or more. This also applies to saplings in the Nether.

A light level of 9 (above sapling) may be provided by a nearby torch, so saplings can grow into trees underground with just one nearby torch. It should be noted that while moonlight has a brightness of 4, saplings will not pop out of the ground when exposed to moonlight - they will survive low light provided there are no blocks directly above them.

Jungle tree saplings, if placed in a 2x2 square, will grow into a full size Jungle tree. They will grow around 31 blocks tall if they have enough room.

Saplings have 4 growth stages, and will only grow into a tree after the 4th growth stage. If they are broken before being fully grown, they will retain their growth stage in the player's inventory.

Blood Wood Saplings

Blood wood saplings only have one growth stage, and thus grow much faster than other trees. They must also be planted in the nether on soul sand, and will anger nearby zombie pigmen when placed by the player. In addition, they will also plant themselves after falling onto soul sand when dropped from a blood leaf block. Whether in the overworld or nether, they can be forced to grow by using a soul urn on the sapling, although it will only continue to grow branches in the nether.

Crafting

Name	Ingredients	Input » Output
Blood Wood Sapling	Oak Sapling, Birch Sapling, Pine Sapling, Jungle Sapling, Nether Wart, Soul Urn

Trivia

• It is possible to plant a sapling on any patch of dirt or grass. Whether or not it will grow into a tree depends on if it has enough space and light.
• Saplings can also be placed on Farmland but will not grow.
• The sapling requires 6 blocks above it in order to grow.
• Dead bushes, which look like dead saplings, are generated in desert biomes.
• Farming small jungle trees from saplings is unsustainable because most trees have less than forty leaves on them. Large jungle trees grown by planting four jungle saplings in a 2x2 grid are another story, as they can easily produce 8 or more saplings.
• It is possible to force a small blood wood tree to grow in the overworld using a soul urn, but it won't continue to grow branches like it would in the Nether.