> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://items.lodemc.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Saplings that grow into your trees

> Add saplings with flora: planted on grass or dirt like vanilla saplings, they need light, take bone meal and grow into one of the trees that name them.

A sapling is a [flora](https://items.lodemc.net/flora.md) entry with a `sapling:` section. Players plant it like a vanilla sapling, and it grows into a [tree](https://items.lodemc.net/flora/trees.md). The sapling only says how it's planted and how fast it grows: the tree says which sapling it grows from.

```yaml items/flora/willow/willow.yml theme={null}
willow_sapling:
  type: flora
  name: "<#7FA650>Willow Sapling"
  texture: willow_sapling.png   # drawn as an X, like vanilla saplings; also its icon
  sapling: {}

willow:
  type: flora
  tree:
    sapling: willow_sapling     # this is what links them
    log: willow_log
    leaves: willow_leaves
```

## What a sapling does

A sapling behaves like a vanilla one:

* It **grows on its own** when it has enough light, about as often as vanilla saplings.
* **Bone meal** grows it about one time in four and a half, like vanilla. Dispensers with bone meal work too.
* It **pops off** when the block under it goes.
* If several trees name the same sapling, it grows into **one of them at random**.
* If the tree has no room, nothing happens and the sapling tries again later. See [How a tree grows](https://items.lodemc.net/flora/trees.md#how-a-tree-grows).

The sapling's `texture` is drawn as an X and is also its item's icon. A `model:` (a `.json`) draws the planted sapling instead. `name`, `lore` and the other [item options](https://items.lodemc.net/items.md) apply to its item.

## Options

**sapling** `section` *required*

| Key | Default | Does |
| - | - | - |
| `on` | `#minecraft:supports_vegetation` | Blocks or `#tags` it can be planted on and stays on. The default is what vanilla saplings grow on: grass, dirt, podzol, moss, farmland and the like. |
| `speed` | `1` | How fast it grows. `1` is vanilla saplings' speed. |
| `min-light` | `9` | The light it needs to grow, `0` to `15`. |
| `bone-meal` | `true` | Whether bone meal grows it. |

Write `sapling: {}` to keep every default.

A sapling that no tree names gives a warning, and never grows. A tree that names a sapling that isn't one is an error.

Each sapling uses one walk-through block slot and look. See [How many crops and saplings](https://items.lodemc.net/flora.md#how-many-crops-and-saplings).

## Not yet supported

* 2x2 saplings that grow giant trees, like dark oak and jungle saplings.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.