Talk:Sapling

Sapling Growth in Limited Area
My own experiments with sapling growth shows that no amount of repeated application of Bonemeal will cause a failed sapling to grow in dense environments. However, removing and replacing the sapling almost always generates a tree. In addition, removing everything in the environment and reattempting Bonemeal application always results in a large, branching tree. It seems likely that the sort of tree the sapling will grow into is determined upon the planting of the sapling, and if the environment prevents that sort of tree from growing anytime after the sapling is planted (such as if other trees grow around it), the growth will fail; this would explain why grids of trees often have many saplings left in them after a while.

--Gmerriment 17:08, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Page seems faulty
This page seems faulty. It doesn't seem to differ between the item, and the block. Could someone give it a look? I wouldn't say that it's decoration, other than in creative mode.

~The_Clam

Saplings are a block in the game world and in the inventory (this is also the case for torches, flowers, mushrooms... but not for doors/signs). The inventory stores blocks as blocks and items as items. C ali nou - talk × contribs » 06:56, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Light needed
The article says that a certain amount of light is needed. This is false. I have successfully grown a tree underground with only 1 torch as light. I know this seems strange (I though so as first, because I spent ages digging a tunnel from the sea (took ages to stop water getting in) to another tree so it would get sun light, and that has yet to grow. It has been moved a bit though, so it might be because it was remove from the ground.

I immediately took all the wood because I needed it and forgot to screen cap. I'll try and get an image next time.

Dementis - 16:11, 15 October 2010 (CDT)

Dementis - nothing in the article contradicts any of your observations. Saplings require a light level of 13 to grow. A torch has a light level of 14, and provides an illumination of 13 in the squares directly surrounding it. If directly next to a torch underground, a sapling will grow into a tree. Try reading the article on "trees" for a picture of a tree grown in a cave - there's nothing strange or new about this.

--Deathandgravity 22:10, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, didn't notice that Dementis 03:15, 16 October 2010 (CDT)

Flaming leaves do drop saplings
Leaves destroyed by fire do drop saplings. They just tend to be destroyed by landing on more flaming leaves. If you light the canopy from the top, this is less likely and you can see saplings drop. SMA11784 16:08, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

I implemented your remarks on the article page. Riking 05:34, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

Space needed to grow
It would appear that saplings need 5 empty blocks above them, and not 4, in order to grow. Can anyone else confirm this? Prsn828 14:09, 14 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Confirmed. This had me confused for a while too. Aclectasis 10:51, 18 November 2010 (UTC)
 * I've edited this article and Tree to reflect this. Aclectasis 10:59, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

Grow on Dirt
I have had a sapling grow on dirt, it takes a bit longer then one would think. (a few minutes vs. a few seconds). It also grew larger then the normal tree (branches included)I had the sapling at a very high level (it was in one of my towers) I can get the exact level when I play again Desruprot 01:47, 18 November 2010 (CST)
 * *Cough* how else would you grow a tree? Darkid 19:37, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * "In Creative mode, saplings function as a decoration block, and can be placed freely. Saplings will grow into a full tree after a few seconds if the server has "grow-trees" set to "true" in the "server.properties" file and if they are on a grass block. They will not grow on a dirt block." Does this mean that in creative they do not grow on dirt? or on survival too? Is this accurate? A number of things in the rest of the article seem to indicate that they grow on grass as well.

Different types
Do saplings always grow into the default tree type, or can they occasionally become birch or redwood trees? Alphap 02:58, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I can not provide the source right now now, but either Notch or Jeb_ replied "No" to someone asking the same thing on twitter some days ago --Flippeh 04:45, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Beta 1.5. Cool12309(T 17:57, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Number of sapling tuned down in 1.5
First post, so I might not write on a wiki like I should, I just wanted to add an info : Jeb tuned down the number of saplings dropped when you cut a tree.

http://twitter.com/jeb_/status/58141639989927936 –The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ghune (Talk 16:56, 18 April 2011. Please sign your posts with !

-True, but we should wait to post until Beta 1.5 is released. Please remember to sign btw. Just add 4 ~'s at the end of your post. Zkyo 17:04, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * This is interesting - I am pretty sure (from constant tree farming experience) that it was already tuned down quite significantly in 1.4, compared to 1.3. CiaranG 15:09, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Version 1.5 changes
New Sapling --Karasu 13:50, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Heres a better version, already ready to be used. Someone who really understands the block template should add this, as I only got headache trying to make heads and tails out of the code there. --TheKax 15:59, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

I found yet another new sapling. Look like redwood, while the latter may be birch. Lancerusso 16:08, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
 * We need an inventory screenshot of it. I'll make it if I find one. -- TheKax 16:35, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Let me get this straight: There are still the normal saplings(the everyday tree), birch saplings(white bark), and pine saplings(tree in snow biomes)? And if there are more tree types, could I also know? Cool12309(T 16:42, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Pretty sure they just help distinguish what the tree will grow in to, because previously all the saplings looked the same (the one on the page), but grew into the three different trees (seemingly at random). Artsy 16:59, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Edit: [[File:Grid_sapling3.png]] is the 'redwood'/'pine'/whatever the heck you want to call it-sapling.
 * No, there was always just 1 sapling for all trees that grew into the same tree before Beta 1.5 Cool12309(T 18:01, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

New inventory icons are up, thanks Kax. At this point to upload a new version of the image, just overwrite Grid_Sapling_Birch and Grid_Sapling_Spruce. Someone should probably change the primary picture but I don't personally know how to make an animated gif. --Theothersteve7 18:17, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Required height for saplings
Birch/Redwood/Pine/w.e. The 2 new sapling types definately require more than 6 height to grow. Any clues as to what the actual # is? Darkid 21:35, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Just made a redwood farm @ y:10, it required 9 height to grow Ice13th 13:50, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

on a smp server i had a tree farm, after the beta 1.5_01 update, i discovered some of the ungrown saplings in the farm had changed to birch and pine saplings. anyone else have this happen to them? and i dont known if we might want to make a note about it if other people have had it happen? Gil212 02:06, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
 * This is because of the Beta 1.5 update, all saplings that were planted in Beta 1.4_01 or before turned randomly into a birch or pine sapling. Someone confirmed for me that no saplings planted before Beta 1.5 stayed the normal sapling. Cool12309(T 18:01, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Just been experimenting for the new jungle saplings, my lil bit of research seems to point to a single sapling needing a 3x3x8 area free to grow and the 2x2 grid of saplings needing a 6x6x20 minimum required area to grow, with 6x6x24+ being much more reliable to quickly grow them. Hope this proves useful :) --Stewb83 19:47, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

I've also been experimenting. For me, the 6x6 minimum only matter for vines. I had jungle wood blocks as well as leaves within the area, and it grew. With a single vine in the 6x6 area, the saplings just refused to grow. --62.203.175.145 19:50, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Saplings drop by leaf color, not tree type?
I notice when I cut down a normal tree with bright green leaves, it drops a sapling similar to the ones I already had before the update. It even stacks with them.

However, when I cut down a normal tree with dark green leaves, it drops oak saplings similar to the ones I own, but they do not stack. In addition, the tree also occasionally drops birch and pine saplings despite being an oak tree.

This observation leads me to believe that any tree may drop any sapling, just as long as the leaves correspond to the appropriate color for the sapling, with oak saplings drops by light leaves, birch dropped by darker leaves, and pine/conifer dropped by the darkest leaves.

Can anyone confirm this for me? BlazinH 05:26, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

Intuitively, that would be the easiest way to code it, so I imagine it's true. Leaves will drop saplings appropriate for the kind of leaf block, rather than appropriate for the nearest piece of wood - especially since the latter could be manipulated by crafty players. However, trees should only be generated with the appropriate kind of leaves; the trees you're encountering sound buggy. --Theothersteve7 13:50, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Growth Rate
I definitely think that certain saplings grow faster than others. I planted 6 saplings of each type (Normal, Pine, and Birch) and waited for them to grow. The Birch trees all required less than a day to grow, and I've replanted them 3 times now. The normal and pine trees have yet to grow. Also, I planted a birch sapling while the leaves of the tree that stood there moments ago were still disappearing. Before the last leaf block vanished a new tree had already grown in its place. --Hubertus 06:42, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

It might also be interesting to mention if the growth rate changes depending on the block type below (dirt, grass, farm-land, etc). --anon

Data Values?
It still says it's just "06".... shouldn't it be different for each one? Supuhstar 04:39, 21 May 2011 (UTC)
 * No. Damage values. – ultradude25 ( T at 06:24, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

Sapling biome dependency?
Desert biomes seem to not allow pine or birch trees to grow, even when using bone meal. Generic tree saplings will still grow, albeit with a very unhealthy leaf color suitable for trying to grow in a desert. There should be something in this page that gives explicit mention to which saplings will grow in which biomes.


 * Odd, I will have to try this for my self when I get the chance. If Anyone else can, or if you can post a video that'd be great. And please, sign your posts with four tildes (~) Deanm 01:03, 24 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Jungle tree saplings will slowly change the biome around it to jungle, (Only on grass blocks) just so you know. Iyeru 06:27, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * That's not true in 1.3.1: spruce (which was called pine previously) and birch grow in a desert biome normally. (Of course, you need to bring dirt there to plant them). I've tested growth of both types both with and without bonemeal. Fiktor 07:39, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

Redwood growth
If you guys know EthosLab, hes got a real nice world with everything you could possibly need. I played around his world, and worked with a indoor tree farm, harvesting saplings and logs from the trees. Ive tried to plant redwood trees but they simply refuse to grow, when birch trees grow almost instantly, the redwood just doesnt do anything. There should be enough space, at least enough for any other tree, and bonemeal doesnt work on it either. Any answers anyone?--J4ff4c3ks1 23:42, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
 * I think i saw something about it having to be 7x7x9 minimum for it to grow on its own (if placed in middle), Dont quote me, however.--Neil2250 18:00, 22 September 2011 (UTC)

Trivia
Is there any reason why over half the trivia is history? 68.51.220.39 22:44, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Jungle sapling growth may need its own sub-section
But I'm not sure yet. For instance, I just was able to grow a jungle sapling (Without bone meal, I might add) next to another already-grown jungle tree, making it a 2x1 jungle tree. The sapling does NOT need 6 blocks above free, and will grow fine if as little as 3 blocks above are free. Iyeru 06:31, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

11w44 1-4: Jungle trees to be planted in order. 11 44  w: Wood blocks to be placed after w  w      trees are grown. 22 33 22w33


 * Also, the description of how to grow 2x2 sapplings isn't quite accurate. I am trying to grow a 5x5 giant jungle tree by growing 4 2x2 trees and filling in the gaps with (jungle) wood blocks (see above). I managed to get the first two planted fine by pruning the first one completely on one side. After pruning those two again, I couldn't get the 3rd tree to grow, and I'm not sure why. 76.10.149.125 23:03, 3 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Noticed something that makes me agree with this. Jungle saplings seem to drop much more rarely than other sapling types.  I don't have hard data; I'll leave that to a science type, but when I cut down other trees for wood, I usually end up with a surplus of saplings.  I tried this recently with jungle trees, and rather than getting a stockpile, I ran out!  Each tree, which had about 40 leaves on it, was dropping maybe one sapling, rarely two, and often none at all.  Seems as though the rainforest is meant to be prone to deforestation? --Tabby Brandybuck 20:07, 6 March 2012 (UTC)


 * After a bit more testing, I did eventually get all 4 trees to grow. I found that it is either vines or leaves (I suspect the former, but have not tested it thoroughly) in specific spots that inhibit large jungle tree growth. I had to get rid of the vines and leaves on the side of the tree next to the tree I was trying to go. Here are my findings continuing from my example above: 76.10.149.125 20:02, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

11 22 v - Vines and leaves. v11v22 vv   While trying to grow tree number 3, 33   the vertical columns labeled v must 33   be cleared.

Birch Sapling from Oak
I'm not positive, but I believe you can still receive birch saplings from the decay of oak leaves (Minecraft 1.1). I was playing SkyBlock 2.1 with a friend, so we had no access to the mainland to get a birch sapling from a birch tree. Unless he added it to our game with a server command (which I didn't see happen), it had to have dropped from our oak tree farm. --74.102.196.95 23:28, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Manually destroying leaves lowers chance of sapling?
This is a myth that I have never found the answer to. A lot of people think that if you let the leaf block naturally decay it has a higher chance of dropping a sapling than if the player destroys it. I have a strong feeling that this is false and that they have the same chance, but I would like a definitive answer so I know 100%. Thanks. –Preceding unsigned comment was added by EternalNinja0 (Talk&#124;Contribs) 09:45, 13 March 2012‎. Please sign your posts with
 * The chance is the same either way. The piece of code that decides whether or not to drop a sapling doesn't even know why the leaf block was removed. -- Orthotope 10:34, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Looking at the source, I can confirm it is entirely a myth. Orthope is correct; there is no difference in drop rate between breaking leaves manually or waiting for them to decay. --IQAndreas 18:16, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

saplings on farmdirt
after i hoed a peice of dirt i accedently pressed sapling instead of seeds and i clicked on to it and it was placed there but i dont know if anything happens when it grows
 * Saplings do not grow on tilled soil (farm land). You can place the sapling on it like a decoration, but it will not grow unless the block underneath is grass or plain dirt. --IQAndreas 18:17, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

Oak, birch and ash Saplings are they dead please help
Hi guys

I was given a few oak, birch and ash saplings from a neighbour who never had the time to plan them. Some were left in a black sack for a couple of months and some were just left lying on the ground in a sheltered area. He was throwing them out and I told him I would take them from him and try planting them myself. I just wanted to know am I wasting my time is it possible that there dead the roots look dry and there are no leaves on them but there wasnt any on them when he got them. They look ok but im no expert and I would hate to throw them out if i could save them...

Thanks a mil

Ciaran


 * Black Sack? Ash saplings? Is this in minecraft or is this real life? I think you might've mistaken this wiki for wikipedia. --Anoymous712 08:24, 4 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Hilarious. Perhaps the funniest thing I've ever seen on any wiki, ever. 184.76.205.136 03:32, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

Drop rates
Sapling drop rates have been significantly reduced. Does anyone know if this is a bug? Also, is there a mod that increases sapling drop rates?1337 w0n 21:05, 5 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Not sure, but Birch and Jungle saplings do have a reduced drop rate, to compensate respectively for the faster growth rate and the giant trees. --Mental Mouse 04:29, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I only have anecdotal evidence, but drop rates seem to have been drastically reduced for broken leaves. Certainly, saplings are now much more likely to drop from withered leaves than broken ones. Jungle saplings also seem to now drop as frequently or nearly so as the other kinds.


 * I can say with almost 100% certainty that letting a jungle tree "mature" for a while will increase the sapling drop rate, unless this was changed in a somewhat recent update. I've been getting easily twice as many saplings if I let the tree sit for a while. Rip-Saw 10:01, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

Anecdotal evidence from destroying oak trees has shown me that breaking an oak leaves block doesn't affect the chances for the leaf block to drop a sapling. Ethanbulider (talk) 04:32, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Saplings Plant by themselves?
I have noticed while playing in SMP, occasionally when saplings drop from leaves that decay, the saplings will automatically plant themselves on the ground after a while. Is this a confirmed thing or a glitch? 75.141.184.3 19:22, 1 October 2012 (UTC)yoshi71089


 * Doesn't happen in vanilla Minecraft, but I'll bet there's a server mod which does that. -- Orthotope 03:23, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * You do need a mod to auto-plant saplings. Nyht 03:40, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

Spruce Bonemeal Bug
hi, i was recently grinding some wood because i needed loads of all the different types of wood for a project, and i was bonemealing some saplings and spruce saplings wont grow with bonemeal. im in 1.4.7 why? AshleyCraft 13:06, 2 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Maybe it's a bug or maybe you don't have place so the tree can't grow . Or you need to do more bonemealing . --dariomTc. 06:41, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

Light Value Needed to Place a Sapling?
I'm not sure if I missed this in the article, if it's mentioned, but I noticed that I was unable to place saplings on a dirt block with only the default Nether light value. Only after placing torches was I able to even plant a sapling. Is this something that was or needs to be mentioned in the article? Solyka (talk) 01:41, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

It has been mentioned in the article. Last line of this paragraph. "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." -Malstorm64 Malstorm64 (talk) 17:35, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

1.7 trees?
I was looking at the new snapshot's new versions of trees and biomes and I was wondering If it was possible to get one of the new trees from a sapling. If so would it have the same leaves or the same wood? Malstorm64 (talk) 17:32, 18 October 2013 (UTC)


 * This is added in 1.7 Prerelease 1. Please update your version.


 * -Exhelah &middot; Grid Book and Quill.png Grid Diamond Pickaxe.png &middot; Grid Grass Block.png &middot; 04:04, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Bonemeal Required?
The page states that "Certain trees can only be grown with bone meal and more than one sapling". This is incorrect. Dark Oak, Large Spruce Trees, and Large Jungle Trees will grow without bonemeal. 24.22.58.0 21:27, 13 December 2013 (UTC)

Cannot break bedrock any more

 * Blocks can be replaced with wood by growing dark oak saplings.

This great feature seems to have been 'fixed' in 1.8 like it was nothing more than a bug. Please confirm? It's a pity, because I used to build extensive transportation systems on top of the Nether. 0xCOCOA (talk) 20:11, 19 November 2014 (UTC)


 * It still works for me in 1.8.1-pre5 and 1.8. It may take a few tries to actually work. – KnightMiner  (t·c) 23:12, 19 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Fixed in 1.8.2-pre4. 108.216.23.28 06:57, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

About breaking leaf blocks
It is a common misconception as pointed out by paulsoresjr in one of his skyblock videos, that breaking leaf blocks manually instead of waiting for them to decay reduces the chances for the leaf block to drop a sapling when destroyed. Ethanbulider (talk) 04:27, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Can't plant on floating dirt?
I notice on some multiplayer servers, you can't plant a sapling on a floating dirt block. To be more precise, the dirt block needs to have at least two other solid blocks below it (for a total of three), otherwise the sapling can't be placed. If you try, the sapling just goes back into your inventory. Grass doesn't seem to have this problem. This doesn't seem to happen on singleplayer. Does anyone know why this is? Is there some kind of plugin or something that does this? --108.76.103.35 03:49, 31 May 2016 (UTC)


 * If it only happens on some servers, it's most likely a plugin or mod of some sort. Try asking the server admins which plugins are installed. -- Orthotopetalk 05:14, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

Space for Growth
The article does a good job explaining how much space each sapling needs above in order to grow. Don't saplings also need a certain amount of space around? -98.246.128.140 05:28, 28 July 2017 (UTC)