When I tried to grow 2x2 spruce trees multiple times and they wouldn't grow.

I tried to see if I was doing it right, so I opened a creative world with infinite bone meal to test it.

For some reason it worked in the creative world and not in the survival one.

I checked the requirements for them to grow and I was doing it correctly.

Also I went through a stack of bone meal in the survival world with no effect, meanwhile in the creative world it was a normal amount.