Seedling

Seedlings are items in that grow into Pikmin. They are mainly found on expeditions, but some are gifted to the player by the game for leveling up. (Early in the game's life, Pikmin could very rarely pick them up as the player walked around, similarly to how Pikmin pick up small fruits.) Once found, they can be put into a slot in the Planter Pack, where they will start growing. After walking a certain number of steps with the seedling in a slot, it can be plucked, which will add one new Pikmin into the player's collection. A player can store up to 30 seedlings, though this limit can be raised through in-app purchases. It is possible to get rid of seedlings without growing them by pressing the "Recycle" button while viewing a seedling's information page.

Types
There are different types of seedlings, corresponding to the different types of Pikmin, with different numbers of steps required to grow them into a Pikmin.

Gold Seedlings were added on 18, and can only be obtained in specific circumstances in events or from Special Spots, unlike the other seedling types. They can contain Pikmin types that have not been formally unlocked.

The colored varieties of Gold Seedlings were added in June 2023, and are obtainable in events by purchasing the Premium Event Pass from the shop, where completing every fourth stage of missions allows the player to select a specific color to get.

The levels at which seedling types are unlocked was changed in the level update on 14; before this date types were unlocked at levels 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, and 23, in the same order as after the level update.

Lifelog-paired seedlings
After viewing the daily lookback, if the player gives the app the necessary permissions and saves a photo, a special expedition to the location they took the photo in might appear. The seedling will be "paired" to that photo/lifelog entry, so the player will always be able to view the lifelog photo on that seedling. After plucking said seedling, the Pikmin will be paired too and have the same photo. The player can view the photo under its location details and right above the flower type.

Trivia

 * Except for the Huge Seedling and Gold Seedlings, the coloration of seedling pots and the markings on them correspond respectively to the skin color and eye color of the Pikmin they yield.
 * The markings on the seedling pots look vaguely similar to those of the Onions in and, especially the huge seedling's pot.