Sprout



Sprouts are any underground Pikmin whose stems are poking out of the ground to be plucked. Most often, sprouts are the result of a seed that is ejected from Onions or Candypop Buds touching the ground.

Pikmin sprout
After a seed has touched the ground, it will transform into a sprout. While it is almost an immediate process in and, it takes roughly seven seconds in. The player can also choose to leave Pikmin sprouts buried so that they can evolve into bud or flower Pikmin. The following is a list of ways to find a Pikmin sprout:


 * A Pikmin already starting as a sprout in a given Challenge Mode or Mission Mode stage.
 * Having some enemies turn Pikmin into sprouts:
 * Swooping Snitchbug, when it chucks a Pikmin to the ground.
 * Mamuta, when it slaps a Pikmin into the ground.
 * Calcified Crushblat, without its shell, when it lands on a Pikmin.
 * Sandbelching Meerslug, when a ball of sand lands on a Pikmin.
 * Muckerskate, when it shoots mud at a Pikmin on land.
 * In Pikmin, after dying as a flower, there is a chance a Pikmin will appear as a sprout in the same spot the next day.
 * Spraying the opponent's Pikmin with an ultra-bitter spray in 2-Player Battle. In this case, they will automatically come out after some seconds if not plucked beforehand.

In caves in Pikmin 2, if some of the player's Pikmin are buried, the player will be warned when trying to leave the sublevel: if the player leaves without plucking those Pikmin, they will be lost and these are counted as deaths. If all of the player's Pikmin are buried, however, the player will not be able to proceed to the next sublevel or leave the cave. In Pikmin 4, sprouts left behind do not count as deaths and the cave can be continued as the game does not restrict players from exploring caves with no Pikmin.

Pikmin seed
A Pikmin seed can be produced in several ways:


 * When the player discovers an Onion, the latter will produce a Pikmin seed.
 * When a Pikmin extinction occurs, the Onion of the concerned type will eject a seed.
 * When retrieving dead enemies or pellets to an Onion, it will then produce a certain number of seeds.
 * When throwing Pikmin into Candypop Buds, the latter will turn them into seeds again.

In Pikmin and Pikmin 2, all seeds look the same, changing only in color. In Pikmin 3, seeds are slightly different depending on the Pikmin type. Winged Pikmin seeds have stripes and are slightly smaller. White Pikmin seeds are also smaller. Purple Pikmin seeds are also slightly bigger, and Rock Pikmin seeds look like rocks.

Pluck
Plucking is a mechanic that allows leaders to uproot a Pikmin sprout. In Pikmin, the Smoky Progg is also able to uproot nearby Pikmin by performing an attack. In Pikmin 2, if the player collects the Professional Noisemaker, they can also use their whistle to uproot Pikmin.

Special properties
Pikmin seeds and sprouts have different properties from other Pikmin:


 * They are almost invincible in these states, except for:
 * A Smoky Progg can still uproot a Pikmin sprout in.
 * A Sandbelching Meerslug can create sinkholes to bring Pikmin down to its mouth, allowing it to eat buried Pikmin.
 * Pikmin sprouts will survive at night, unlike the other Pikmin.
 * In Pikmin 3, they also evolve directly into flowers the day after.
 * Pikmin that are buried will have special treatment if there is a Pikmin limit conflict.

Trivia

 * In Pikmin , there is a glitch that makes some newly-ejected seeds have buds or flowers.
 * In Pikmin 2, if there are 99 Pikmin buried in the same area or sublevel, then it will be impossible for a Swooping Snitchbug or a Mamuta to bury the 100th Pikmin. That Pikmin will simply get knocked back (in the case of a Mamuta) or stay idle (in the case of a Swooping Snitchbug). Attempting to get 100 seeds via delivering items to an Onion is possible, though. To do this, one Pikmin must deliver a corpse to an Onion while 99 Pikmin are buried. Then, by ordering that Pikmin to go inside the Onion or ship, the Pikmin will be able to get inside before the seeds are ejected.
 * In Bingo Battle, the Onions can produce White and Purple Pikmin seeds by having a +5 Pikmin power up. This will only work if the level contains White and Purple Pikmin.
 * Some Candypop Buds have a maximum Pikmin requirement. Seeds in the overworld do not count for this, however.