Trees in 3 gallon or 10" pots
This tree pictured here is a Rainbow ready to sell in a 3 gallon pot. We make them available to buyers once they are 18" or taller, but they do not all have branches all the way down the stem as this one does. Each tree is unique; in most cases subtle, but dramatic every so often. A few have larger leaves, and a lower number of leaves overall, while others may have leaves smaller and narrower than "typical" with the tree starting out bushier as well. We have found a very few that are what we call "purple Rainbows" in that all the leaves have a purplish color even when fully mature. These are extremely rare!
The reason for this variability is simple; they are seedlings, not clones produced from asexual propagation. As such, we expect each one to have a slightly different genetic "signature", resulting in differing expression of characteristics. Of course, with seedlings comes the possibility of occasional mutations; one mutation we have our eyes out for is the "dwarf Rainbow", and it is only a matter of time before we discover it.
A tree this size is about a year old, and most of that year is spent getting the tree from seed to small liner size. Once they get to the size where they are ready for 6" pots, the growth spurt is on!