Growing Truffles
If you inform the Association of your location, it may be possible to put you in touch with someone growing truffles in your area. Climate is probably the primary issue. Tree suppliers should already know of most of the climatic conditions in truffle growing regions, however I would suggest you contact the Bureau of Meteorology and get the climate detail from a station of theirs close to you and the State department responsible for soil conservation to get an idea of soil types; that would be a good start. Tree suppliers may need some climatic and soil information for your specific area.
As a general rule, a mean max temp of about 29 in the summer and mean min of about 1 in June or July is desirable. Some say a rule of thumb is at least 7 frosts during the winter. A minimum rainfall of about 700 mm per year would be desirable and good rain in the summer months is required to set the truffles. You will need to drought proof your trees, particularly in the early stages, so you will need a good water supply, either surface or ground water, (but not saline).
Soils need to be free draining and have a pH of 8 as well as other micro nutrient levels, which may need correcting, depending upon the results of the soil test, but most people are liming the soils to bring it up to the needed pH. For example soils of pH less than 6 might require 50 Tonnes of lime per Ha to bring them up to 8. If you decide to go ahead, our website ('Links' page) includes suppliers of soil testing services and trees and they will also be happy to assist you.
Preparation is straight forward by spraying out the grass, then liming and chisel ploughing it in to the top 200 mm. Some say it is better to ensure thorough soils preparation well before planting but it is best to discuss your particular situation with your tree supplier. You need to keep well away from existing trees as they may have competing mycorrhiza on their roots, which will compete with the truffle mycorrhiza. Again, check these issues with your tree supplier. Set out the tree lines, install the irrigation and plant the trees, probably best in early spring. There are about 400 trees per Ha and dont expect any change from say, a ballpark $25,000/Ha for the set up.
Growers have been consistently getting truffles after 4-5 years with the new technology being employed, but earlier growers (in NZ and Tasmania) were waiting up to 10 years or more before production commenced. It is, after all, an agricultural pursuit and comes with all those farm related issues. Harvesting is being done with the help of dogs and they are available for hire in most regions with some suppliers being able to either train a dog for you or assist with training practices.
If you decide to go ahead we would welcome you as a member of the Association!
Best Regards
Wayne Haslam
President
Australian Truffle Growers Association
http://www.trufflegrowers.com.au
General Info for Growers
(3 posts) (2 voices)-
Posted 3 years ago #
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Damian
Do you hav ethe name of any contacts at Murdoch Uni WA who have studied truffles??Posted 1 year ago # -
Wayne
What i sthe new technology you refer to in the article
JeremyPosted 1 year ago #
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