Sapling in Minecraft

Saplings are a plant-based item that is quite important for growing trees. They are non-solid blocks that can be grown into full-sized trees, which can then be cut to harvest wood. This makes saplings quite important for wood farming.

A spruce sapling (via screenshot)

How to get saplings?

A young sapling can be broken by the players simply with their hands or any tool. Once a sapling has started to grow into a tree, the player must either break the leaves or wait for them to decay as the leaves usually drop saplings when decaying. You can also purchase a sapling from the wandering trader for five emeralds. Saplings can also be found in loot chests found in villages and in bonus chests as well.

Oak saplings dropped by decaying leaves (via screenshot)

What is the use of saplings?

Sapling has seven different variants, one for all the seven types of trees: oak, birch, spruce, jungle, acacia, dark oak, and mangrove. Players can plant saplings on all dirt blocks (except dirt paths). It is recommended that players leave at least ten blocks of empty space above the sapling to ensure their complete growth. Also, a light level of at least 9 is required for them to grow. They will slowly grow into trees that can be cut in order to obtain the respective type of wood. Their growth can be accelerated by using bone meal on them.

Some jungle trees grow from sapling placed next to a path (via screenshot)

Conclusion

Saplings are an important item that is used for growing trees such as oak, birch, dark oak, etc. Players can easily get saplings from leaves by either breaking them or waiting for them to decay. The mangrove sapling (propagule) is a unique variant that can be used for multiple things such as breeding bees, etc.