How to grow a truffle: technology, recommendations

The production of food products is an activity whose results are always in demand. And this is not surprising, because people are ready to pay for the opportunity to eat tasty and natural food all the time.

Those who are ready to devote themselves to the production of farm products, probably should pay attention to such a rare for our country idea of agricultural business, like the cultivation of truffles. How to grow a truffle in Russian natural conditions and how profitable can the production of this delicacy be?

The Golden Mushroom. Is truffle expensive?

None of the existing mushrooms in the world are ready to pay as much as a truffle: the price per 1 kg varies from 500 to 5000 dollars.

Moreover, abroad it is not uncommon for auctions where truffles are put up for sale, as if they were works of art. Depending on the variety, quality, weight and other parameters, the price for one "golden mushroom" can reach an indecently high mark of several thousand euros.

Of course, domestic truffles have little chance of becoming participants in such trades. And the price for them is significantly lower than for the fungus, which grew in a natural environment. Restaurants, in the menu which includes dishes from the "golden mushroom", willingly buy up grown on plantations truffle. The price for 1 kg of the product does not frighten them.

What truffle is in demand

In fact, there are a lot of fungi. But not everyone is fit for food. In cooking, only two kinds are used. White, he's Piedmontese, is the rarest and most valuable. It grows mainly in Italy, and specifically in the Piedmont region, which gave the name to the species. Mushroom has a delicate, delicate aroma and delicious taste. Unfortunately, these truffles can not be grown at home.

Another species is black, or, as it is also called, a Perigord truffle. The birthplace of the fungus is the same French region. Due to the fact that the black truffle is not so whimsical as white, and is cultivated in a plantation, a perigord truffle grows in many European countries, as well as in Russia and Ukraine.

In addition to these two, there are other edible species. For example, Chinese or summer. But for plantations the black is the most suitable. Therefore, when one talks about how to grow a truffle, it is usually the Perigorsk view.

We grow truffles in Russia. Conditions for harvesting

Several centuries of observation and collection of truffle allowed to derive the formula necessary conditions for the successful growth of truffles on plantations. The technology of growing truffles is a rather complicated, expensive and, most importantly, long process. To get the first harvest, it will take at least 5 years of caring for the farm. What do you need to know about how to grow truffles? First and foremost, that the capricious delicacy took root and began to grow, it is required:

• Suitable climate and landing area;
• Favorable soil (soil);
• Mycorrhiza.

Climatic and relief features

Moderate warm climate and stable low rainfall are the main climatic requirements of the truffle. A gentle mushroom does not tolerate a strong heat, nor prolonged cold weather.

Where and how to grow truffles in our country? For production, the middle stripe of Russia - a sunny and not too hot summer, spring rains and warm autumn, contribute to the excellent growth of the delicacy mushroom.

If the lease of the land is not planned, the truffle is quite possible to grow in the basement. In this case, the room should be sufficiently spacious, with moderate humidity and a stable temperature of about +22 degrees.

Truffle truss soil

To the soil in which the truffles will grow, the requirements are no less high. It will require a laboratory analysis of soil saturation with nutrients, nitrogen, carbon, lime, calcium. Also, the surface of the ground should not be subject to water erosion and be at an angle of not more than 15 degrees. The height of the fertile soil layer is not less than 30 cm.

Before planting, it is necessary to check the acid-base balance, which has soil for truffles. You can do this with two simple tests. A little soil, taken at the site of the proposed plantation, should be added to a container of white vinegar. If the reaction is a quiet hiss of the solution, this means a too high level of acidity. Another test is carried out using litmus paper, which simply needs to be immersed in the ground. The paper should turn blue. The lack of such a reaction also means an insufficient level of alkali. In both cases, the alkaline level of the site needs to be increased, gradually adding lime.

Mycorrhizal and planting of seedlings

The symbiosis of the roots of the tree-partner and truffle is called "mycorrhiza." The fungus grows under the ground, on the roots of the tree, by families of 5-7 truffles. The tree feeds its "neighbors" with everything necessary for growth: carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins and other set of substances that affect the taste properties of the fungus. But the truffle does not parasitize - symbiosis helps the tree to be saturated with minerals and phosphorus.

Planting of mycelium, the seed of the fungus, occurs in several stages.

It is important to know that seedlings with mycorrhiza of the fungus are planted in the open ground. Finished sprouts infected with truffle mycelium can be bought. And in order to create mycorrhizal alone, seedlings of partner trees and earth from the natural habitat of truffles, infected with a mycelium, will be required. Having infected the rhizome with a mycelium of truffle, the sprout should be kept in absolutely sterile conditions for at least two weeks. And only after quarantine can the seedling be planted in open soil. This is done like this:

• A small amount of water is poured into the prepared wells with a depth of about 70 cm, then a tree with mycorrhizas is planted and the soil is poured.
• It is required to create a protective layer around the hole in a radius of 40 cm. This can be a layer of garden film, forest foliage and branches, straw.
• Important: it is inadmissible to plant trees too close to each other. Optimal planting - 5 by 4 m, thus, per 1 hectare will have no more than 500 mycorrhizal seedlings.
• Before planting, you do not need to use fertilizers in addition, so as not to damage the mycelium.

After planting a germ mycorrhiza, to gain a foothold, you need a whole year. After that, the truffle will reliably and finally take root on the root.

Further care takes place in this way: you need to remove the weeds around the planting, do not forget to loosen in the spring and regularly water the trees in a drip fashion. Cracks that can form in the ground must always be covered with sand.

The entire period of growth of seedlings must be protected from rodents, rabbits and pests. In addition, on the site, along with the trees-allies, there may be plants next to which the capricious delicacy can not grow. Such trees need to be cleaned.

What kind of trees are required to grow a truffle

The ideal partner for mycorrhiza is oak. But can come and trees such as olive, hazel, sequoia, beech, hornbeam or any kind of citrus.

Important: the truffle categorically does not tolerate willow, poplar, spruce, chestnut, fir! These trees in the plantation should not be.

How to find a harvest?

Cultured truffles at home ripen from early to late fall, and the number of mushrooms that can be harvested in one such period is estimated to be 10 or 15 kg per hectare.

From other fruits of the earth truffle differs in that it is not enough to plant and grow. This mushroom still have to be found - the crop can hide at a depth of about 30 cm below the ground. Better, of course, while waiting for the first truffles to get a specially trained animal (dog or pig), able to smell the delicacy. But if there is no such assistant in the farm, there are several signs on which you can find a family of truffles:

• The smell of a ripe truffle family invariably attracts insects. For this reason, over the place where mushrooms "hid", there is always a large amount of midges.
• The grass growing over the truffle, by the time of maturation of the fungus, perishes and withers.
• The earth above the truffle is slightly raised.

How to store collected mushrooms

Unquestionably, the best product is freshly cut, that is, one that is collected no more than a day ago. However, if the realization of a truffle or the cooking of a dish from these delicacies is possible a little later, in order to preserve all the flavor and nutritional properties of the fungus, the following storage rules must be observed:

• Truffles should always be stored, not cleansing from the ground, because it, like a natural container, will save the cut mushroom from the destructive effect of microorganisms and loss of natural delicate taste;
• Cool storage temperature (refrigerator);
• Professional culinary experts advise such a method of preserving the natural moisture of the truffle: wrap the uncooked mushroom in parchment paper and place in a container with dry rice.

So, figuring out in detail how truffle mushrooms grow and what conditions need to be created for it, we can conclude that the process of their production is incredibly long and expensive. Nevertheless, plantations for the cultivation of this delicacy are not only common in European countries, but also gradually gaining momentum in Russia. This is explained simply: this business is profitable, no matter what. Truffle, once planted, fructifies very long, up to 30 years. And given the prices and high demand, you can expect that all investments will pay off already in the first harvest years.