In order the plant could adapt to soil and certain region, it has to be strong and healthy. Considering the wide range of countries where it is possible to build a truffle farm, there are available several different sorts of tree plants with truffle mycorrhiza. In accordance with ISO 9001 certification established nursery, which is controlled by France National Institute for Agricultural Research, our company offers high-quality, licensed plants with 100% of a definite developed type of truffle mycorrhiza, available in different containers: 430 cm3, 600 cm3, 1.5L and 3L. These containers are specially designed and patented for optimal development of the plants root system, which is particularly important for mycorrhiza development. Initial soil tests can help identify plants and truffles sorts which are best suited for your region. There is also an opportunity to infect seedlings which are germinated from a particular region grown tree seeds.

All the root nod­ules have started growing , root growth can be up to 20 cm be­tween September and November. The pivot, thanks to ex­cel­lent self pruning - the roots grow without de­for­ma­tion.

The potential return in 10 years old garden – 90kg/truffles per ha. It's depends on the weather and care of trees. On average, after the first 5 years the return is 4-5 kg / ha. In the next 5 years – up to 40 kg/ha, and after 15 years – about 40 kg/ha with potential of up to 90kg/ha. Plants start to pay off in 5 – 6 growing year and in the next seven years significantly increase incomes.

The characteristics of favourable soils FOR TRUFFLE CULTIVATION:

The Tuber Melanosporum, black truffle or Périgord truffle:

It requires a chalky soil, rich in calcium and alkaline. The optimal pH ranged between 7.5 and 8.5 with at least 8% total limestone. Favourable soils are generally not very deep, 15 to 40 cm, on fractured rock, with a crumbly or sandy structure. They must be well balance in mineral elements and organic matter. The Carbon/Azote ratio (C/N) must be around 10. Avoid compact soils with a texture that is too clayey. : 40 to 45% being the superior limit. The soil must be draining.

The Tuber Uncinatum Burgundy truffle and the Tuber Aestivum the summer truffle:

They need a chalky soil: pH of 7 to 8, the amount of organic matter must be balanced. The C/N ratio (Carbon/Azote) can reach 20. The amount of clay can be higher than for the Tuber Melanosporum, up to 60%.

The Tuber Magnatum white truffle:

From a chemical point of view, the properties of soil for Tuber Magnatum are the same as for the soil for Tuber Melanosporum and the Tuber Uncinatum. From the physical point of view the soils for the Tuber Magnatum are very specific (which explains the geographical location of this species). These soils are not superficial, not stony, with a more silty sandy texture, well airy soil, with a good drainage, staying fresh during the driest time of year.

Note that it is difficult a priori to judge the truffle growing capacity of a soil, unless it has already been used for truffle production.

The importance of soil analysis

When a parcel is selected for a future truffle orchard, it is indispensable to carry out a soil analysis. This analysis is to determine which host species (tree) and especially which associated fungi are the best adapted to your soil. These are dependent on the physical and chemical properties of your site, and especially its acidity (pH) its calcium and of organic matter contents.

Soil preparation

Mechanical installation of the plastic mulch on the prepared: ploughing, rotary harrow, and rotovator before placing the film. It is best to fence the plantation with a metallic fence. The ideal preparation consists of fully working the land, by ploughing at a minimum depth of 30 cm, followed by harrowing with a rotary harrow for example.

For small surfaces parcels inferior to 2000m2 a preparation of the soil in holes, the soil to be worked at a depth of 30 cm on approximately a surface of a square meter and at each location intended for planting. If the soil is very stony, remove stone from the planting hole, in order to create a volume of loosened soil of about 50 litres around the plant.

Previous cultures:

It has been observed that vines, lavender, alfalfa, sainfoin help to prepare the truffle bed. These plants do not host competitive ectomycorrhizal fungi which limit considerably the truffle potential. However it is not advised to install a truffle bed on recently cleared or deforested land (in the last 5 years). The risk of contamination of the young plants by the mycorrhizal stocks naturally developed on the trees in place is very important, with a risk of decrease in the chance of producing truffles. It is also not advisable to plant in the middle of a wood or near to a wood for the same reasons.

How to cor­rectly plant truffle or­chards.

The planting, ir­ri­ga­tion and up­keep are fun­da­mental fac­tors for suc­cessful truffle or­chards

Planting ad­vices

Be­fore planting, it is highly rec­om­mended to water the plants in container if the root plugs are dry (or to moisten them soaking the boxes for a few min­utes in water). You will build up a supply of hu­midity which will en­able the root system of the plants to start growing more quickly. It is nec­es­sary to en­sure, that the planting hole is deep enough for root ball to be cor­rectly put in place from the con­tainer and in an upright po­si­tion without being squashed. The top of the root plug should be cov­ered by 2 to 3 cm of soil to avoid the wick ef­fect.

The young truffle plant must be in­stalled in a cer­tain volume of soft soil

Plant the root plug without breaking it and taking care to cover it with 2 to 3 cm of soil. Mulching car­ried out with a 100% biodegrad­able tile made of cork con­glom­erate 70 cm di­am­eter round, avoids weeding while pre­serving hu­midity at the foot of the young plants during the first 2 or 3 years, which is cru­cial for the per­for­mance of the crop later on. The pro­tec­tive cov­ering will shelter the young plants from wild game (pro­tec­tion at a height of 60 cm against rab­bits and a height of 120 cm against deer).

Co­pi­ously water each plant im­me­di­ately after planting so as to tamp down the soil around the root plug (10 to 15 l of water per plant on the pro­tec­tion).

A good com­pro­mise must be found be­tween the pre­cocity and the longevity of pro­duc­tion.

 For Tuber Me­lanosporum:

The rec­om­mended dis­tances are 4m on a line and 6m be­tween lines which is about 400 plants per hectare. It is nec­es­sary to orient the lines NORTH -SOUTH so that the sun­shine can reach both sides of the hedge. A square plan­ta­tion is also very worth­while and should be made re­specting the dis­tance of 5m by 5m be­tween each plant (400 plant per hectare).

 In the case of Tuber Un­ci­natum:

A den­sity of 800 to 1000 plants per hectare is fre­quently ap­plied (which is 4 x 3 m or 4 x 2.5 m) be­cause this truffle prefers to de­velops in fresh shaded areas.

 For Tuber Aes­tivum:

A den­sity of 400 to 500 plants/ha (5x5 to 4m) is ad­vised like for Tuber me­lanosporum.

 For Tuber Mag­natum:

The rec­om­mended planting dis­tances are iden­tical to those for the Tuber me­lanosporum that is 400 plants/ha (4x6m or 5x5).

Pruning:

Pruning for op­timal sun­shine and for stim­u­la­tion of the root system growth.
On one hand it con­sists of clearing the trunk over 50 to 70 cm max­imum in order to in­crease ex­po­sure to sun­shine. Note that the plan­ta­tions which are not ir­ri­gated ben­efit from not being pruned too much at the base in order to con­serve some cool­ness, thanks to the shade. It is ad­vis­able to lighten the in­te­rior branches of the crown, when this be­comes too dense, in order to limit the risks of dis­ease and par­a­sites. It is also rec­om­mended to prune the higher and lat­eral branches in order to limit the de­vel­op­ment of the crown in di­am­eter and in this way to en­courage ex­po­sure to sun­light at the foot of the trees. This kind of pruning is rec­om­mended only for Tuber me­lanosporum. It should be achieved pro­gres­sively starting in the 2nd or 3 rd year fol­lowing planting ac­cording to the growth of the truffle plants. But pruning has an­other pos­i­tive ef­fect, pruning the over­head part stim­u­lates root growth. This ef­fect com­bined with soil work helps to main­tain and stim­u­late the my­c­or­rhiza­tion of the truffle trees.

Ir­ri­ga­tion:

It is essen­tial during the first 2 years,, in order to in­sure the re­covery of plants, with a mi­crosprinker (never with a drop by drop) or man­u­ally de­liv­ering 10 litres of water/plant after each planting and during the dry season. Be­tween the 2nd and 5th year, wa­tering is only nec­es­sary in case of drought, and the fre­quency should be adapted to cli­matic con­di­tions as well as to the soil type. From the 5th year, the point of wa­tering is to sat­isfy the water re­quire­ments of the truf­fles. It should be adapted to each soil type and the plu­viom­etry. On av­erage, it is rec­om­mended to water about every 3 weeks. Badly car­ried out ir­ri­ga­tion is often more harmful than no ir­ri­ga­tion.

Or­chard main­te­nance:

Cul­tural prac­tices are nec­es­sary in order to ob­tain a plan­ta­tion with a pre­co­cious yield. It is indis­pens­able to start working the soil at the foot of the trees in the first year of planting over 1 to 2m2 and to a depth of 15 to 20 cm in the case where mulching has been used and starting in the 3rd or 4th year after having taken off the mulch.

 Soil work in­volves :

• Fa­vor­able hy­dric con­di­tions.
• A fa­vor­able amount of or­ganic matter en­cour­ages in­tense bi­o­log­ical ac­tivity in the soil.
• Aer­a­tion of the soil.

On the other hand soil work with a sharp-toothed tool, is also very ef­fec­tive on root system. As the soil work is car­ried out the roots are pruned and this pruning has the ef­fect of stim­u­lating growth and de­vel­oping the root system and in this way main­taining the de­vel­op­ment of truffle my­c­or­rhizae which occur mainly on the new roots.

The ideal is working the soil with a hoe and an axe. In the case of the large plan­ta­tion work will be car­ried out me­chan­i­cally, with a griffon, a vi­brating tine cul­ti­vator, or a harrow 15 to 20 cm deep ac­cording to the depth of the soil.

It is ad­vis­able to work once a year, at the be­gin­ning of Spring end of March be­gin­ning of April.

Choice of the HOST species and the species of TRUFFLE

The re­sults of the soil anal­ysis but also the in­for­ma­tion on geo­graph­ical lo­ca­tion and the cli­matic con­di­tions will help the choice of the best adapted species of truffle and our tech­ni­cians may also ad­vise you on the choice of host species best adapted to your con­di­tions, fol­lowing avisit to your site. Species nat­u­rally oc­cur­ring in the en­vi­ron­ment should al­ways be pre­ferred for the fu­ture plan­ta­tion.

For any question surely contact us by email or phone.