liquid wolf Posted July 14, 2004 Has any one got any info on the process of growing truffles or any culture? Apparently it takes 7 years to get a harvest of truffles and they are usually grown on oak but other trees are also viable. Has anyone grown any? I've checked out a few sites that deal with this but they seem to be pretty aloof. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted July 14, 2004 I'm sure they can be grown in symbiosis with a few other trees... http://www.rirdc.gov.au/champions/Perigord...rdTruffles.html http://www.ts.co.nz/~rick/nmf/articles/truffles.html might help [ 13. July 2004, 21:02: Message edited by: mescalito ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
liquid wolf Posted July 14, 2004 cheers for the info, but do ou know of anyone that has a live culture that would be willing to part with it? We are thinking about buying a property out of town that would sustain truffles and are hoping that they could bring in a little cash for us in the future! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted July 17, 2004 There are many other things youd could grow that would be closer to your field of technical expertise The black and white gold are the subject of a lot of interest but no-ones cracked it yet so many variables - soil, climate, host , competors, predators etc etc... and like most thing technical success doesnt often translate directly to $$$$$ success If I was down south id be looking at wild harvesting Suillus and lactarius, and innoculating pines with Boletus edulis (Cep,Porcini) and the area with Morels and Lepista nuda Much Better chances of success I reckon leave truffles to those with too much time or money to burn! Not good odds in seeing your $ back - Ok for fun though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterdragon Posted July 18, 2004 pretty sure i've got lepista nuda growing under a pine here. still finding the occasional milk cap too. one would think that the recent canberra bushfires would have provided a great opportunity for innoculation with morels. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted July 26, 2004 Ive got a Morel culture ATM - FAST!!!! 2 days and its nearly reached the perimeter of the dish They outgrow contaminants easily Ive put ome on millet and ryegrass to make spawn then ill see what i can do with it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted July 28, 2004 Funny I was thinking about Canberra re this one. Would the area need to be colonised before the fires or could you still innoculate now? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted July 30, 2004 If i knew anymore than i know id be that one step closer to being a morel mogul seriously i dont know Im trying step 2 now step 1 - get a culture from a wild morel and clean up (easy) Step 2 - make spawn (easy enough) Step 3 - make sclerotia (?) Step 4 - (?) Step 5 - Pick tonnes of Morels and enjoy my riches :D Step 3 should be easy enough to do but to do well will be the bit requiring research. Basically you take the nutrient rich spawn and create an interface with an unspecified nutrient poor casing mixture - and the response of the Morel is to form sclerotia, which are then used for step 4, which is directly preceeding step 5 which i can handle. As for Truffles - heres a post by Semilanceata over at the shroomery "There are succesfull truffle growers in my country (Spain). But it is outdoors not indoors. In fact, indoors is impossible right now cause truffles need trees to develope. They do it this way: They put a couple of very clean mature truffles in clean water inside a jar that can be closed. Then the grower dissolves the truffles and let them sit for a couple of days. Afterwards they throw in some clean tree seeds (Quercus ilex) and let sit for another day, stiring the jar once in a while. Then they sow the seeds in a pot containing sterilized soil picked up from a truffle producing forest. Once the seeds germinate and the little plants are growing healthy, a first transplant takes place to a larger pot (soil: same as above). This is the time to cut off the main root to induce secondary roots development (where the truffles like to grow). After 2 years of growing the little trees in a greenhouse, these are transplanted outside in the definitive place making sure the mycorrizae did form (using a loupe or microscope). Then you cross your fingers and pray a little bit. In 6-10 years the trees begin to produce truffles.Quercus ilex truffle production lasts for over 40 years then the amount of truffles decreases. The comercial growers calculate a productive life of 15 years per tree with a 50 kg/10.000 m2/year harvest." So in summary you need :- the right land a bucket of Quercus ilex (Holly oak) seeds some fresh truffles 6-10 years Luck [ 30. July 2004, 01:49: Message edited by: reville ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted July 30, 2004 Can they be introduced to older established trees? If only we could find some local aussie host trees for these things there seems to be a gret market plus if your pulling fruit or nuts of the trees....wait a minute are truffles and morels the same thing? I have a bush food book here...what's choiromyces aboriginus? has it listed here as a native truffle,grows in lush green muddy areas but no mention of the host*shrug* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted July 31, 2004 Older trees?? Its likely that other species will have filled the niche aready - this is particularly likely in Europe but not as likely here If an Aust native plant could host Tuber sp. (Truffles) id be suprised. Australia does however have one of teh highest numbers of hypogeous fungi in the world - none i know are edible though Truffles grow fairly well on Hazel nuts/Filberts (Corylus sp.) so if your truffle plans dont work out you still can still make praline Morels and truffles arent the same thing, not even closely related. less apples and pears and more like Ferns and tomatoes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hagakure Posted July 31, 2004 they dip the roots of young trees into cultures. there are some developments in tasmania at the moment but they will never tell you their secrets that they have invested a lot of time in finding out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted July 31, 2004 Sorry my bad I saw the mention of morels above and..um anyway It's interesting those little hazelnut pralines I used to hint at to dear old mum in the checkout lines while we were waiting for some rich-bitch to write a cheque for 2 loaves of bread at woolies were marketed with the name 'truffles'...coincidence? :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smogs Posted August 13, 2004 i saw a docco on abc a few months ago that had a truffle grower in tassie.. and some in NZ... apprently theres a few and some sort of community. Its big bucks too because being in the southern hemisphere its during the dormant time where they are mainly found (europe) im pretty sure theres a truffle farm in NZ making a profit you would have to check up on that tho also its hard to import to start a farm because they come already bound to tree roots... and they get sprayed with fugicide on the way through quarentine Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterdragon Posted August 14, 2004 'small farms' magazine for this month contains a good two page article on the growing of truffles in bombala - southern nsw. they're using a configuration of two hazels for each oak, apparently dogs are still the preferred method of truffle detection. good article indeed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites