Jambolan (Syzygium cumini L., also known as jambul, java plum, Portuguese plum, among others) is used as an ornamental, medicinal and edible plant and, given its large and diverse uses, high-quality seedlings are desired for fruit farming. This study sought to evaluate the growth and formation of Syzygium cumini seedlings in several substrates. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design, with 13 treatments comparing different substrates (S) made with different proportions of bovine manure, subsurface soil, Bioplant ® , superfine vermiculite and fine sand. Growth variables of the seedlings, such as height, stem base diameter, mass and biometric ratios were evaluated. Substrates containing 10 to 30% bovine manure and 20 to 40% vermiculite, as in S7 (30%BM+30%SS+10%BP+20%FV+10%FS) and S9 (S9=10%BM+30%SS+10%BP+40%FV+10%FS), yielded the best seedlings with adequate values for diameter, mass and Dickson quality index. Substrates with the largest amounts of bovine manure (50%) showed the worst mass distributions. Substrates with high amounts of Bioplant ® or fine sand are not recommended for jambolan seedling formation.