Truffle is considered the most expensive product in the world. The cost of 1 kg of this mushroom reaches 2,000 euros, which is several times higher than the cost of black caviar and edible gold.

Where do truffles grow

The high cost of the truffle is due to the fact that this mushroom is very rare. Under natural conditions, the truffle grows mainly in the forests of France, Italy, and Great Britain. Truffles have learned to grow on farms, and these countries annually export up to 100 tons of this fungus.

Truffle is also found in the south of Russia in mixed forests. The peculiarity of the truffle is that for reproduction, its spores must necessarily pass through the intestines of a person, animal or insect. Only in this case, a mycelium is formed from them.

In nature, there are about 60 species of truffle mushrooms. They all grow deep underground and have a strong fragrance. Only three types of truffles are eaten:

"Black" or "French";

"White" or "African";

"Chinese" or "Asian".

Types of truffles

Other truffle mushrooms exude the smell of rotten onions or spoiled fish. In such mushrooms, the truffle fly lays its larvae. These pests spread the spores of inedible truffles in swamps and peat bogs.

The truffle fly can infect the fruit bodies of delicacy mushrooms. Small black dots will be visible on the truffle tuber. Even if at the time of harvest a mushroom affected by a truffle fly looks fresh, it is not sent for export. This truffle is used to form new plantings.

truffle fly

Technology of artificial cultivation of truffles

For a long time, French agronomists tried to grow truffles artificially in forest areas, but only in the second half of the 19th century did the first truffle plantation appear in France.

A mushroom infected with truffle fly larvae was buried in the ground next to a hazelnut bush. The larvae, eating the truffle, infected the roots of the plant with spores of the fungus. Truffle spores are fixed on the roots of hazelnuts, and entered into a symbiosis with them. After 15 years, agronomists harvested the first crop of mushrooms. French scientists divided the bush infected with spores into separate cuttings and transplanted them into more fertile soil. The first harvest from the first truffle plantation was harvested after six years.

Truffle mycelium is still propagated in this way, but oak seedlings are used instead of hazel, as their root system develops deep into the soil and produces large yields.

Oak acorns are used to expand the truffle plantation. They are planted at a depth of 20 cm - 40 cm near the mother plant. Then the spores of the fungus fall on the young root system of the tree and develop as it grows.

Symbiosis of truffles in the cultivation of hazelnuts

Because of this symbiosis, the fruiting of the host plant is increased. Therefore, in the northern regions of France, where the harvest of truffles is low, since they grow to only 0.5 cm, these mushrooms are used to increase the harvest of hazelnuts, which are sent for export.

Soil for growing truffles

The soil for planting truffles should be loose and fertile. Alkaline soil with a pH of at least 7.5 is best. .

A soil mixture consisting of:

Leaf land;

Forest soil, which is taken from under coniferous trees;

The land where the oak grew.

All components are mixed, focusing on the PH-meter. Sand in the soil mixture plays the role of baking powder. Leafy soil is the main breeding ground for truffle spores. With the help of soil from under oak and needles, natural conditions for truffles are created.

The soil mixture is poured with a layer of 30cm-40cm. The soil where truffles grow should be free of stones. Mycelium is planted in open ground to a depth of 20 cm.

To obtain a crop, hazelnuts or oak are planted near the truffle planting site. The mushroom can be planted in open ground near an acacia or walnut, but in this case, the trees need to be fertilized abundantly.

Features of growing truffles in Russia

The cultivation of black truffle in Russia began its development in 2000. The first truffle farm appeared in the Krasnodar Territory, where the truffle was grown in the open field on oak seedlings bought in France.

Truffle is a thermophilic mushroom. In open ground, it takes root only in warm climates. The optimum air temperature for the growth of mycelium is +23 C. It is planted in open ground in mid-May, when the threat of frost has passed.

In central Russia and in its northern regions, black truffles are grown in polycarbonate greenhouses, where they maintain the optimum temperature for the growth of the fungus all year round.

Technology of growing truffles in open ground

After the soil for growing truffles is ready, trees are planted in it. Then, within the near-trunk circle of seedlings, grooves are made 20 cm deep. The distance between them should be 10 cm-15 cm.

Oak sawdust contaminated with truffle mycelium is poured into the furrows. You can purchase seedlings whose root system is already infected with truffle mycelium. In this case, furrows do not need to be made.

Trees are covered with agrofiber or mulched in autumn so that the soil temperature does not fall below +15 C. Spruce branches, hay or vermiculite can be used as mulch. It is important that the mulch is not affected by spores of fungal diseases, so the covering material is treated with a solution of potassium permanganate.

Once every two weeks, the mulch is removed and complex mineral fertilizers and organic matter are added to the soil. Then the soil is covered again.

Horse manure is ideal for growing black truffles: it contains a lot of potassium and phosphorus, and the nitrogen content in such a fertilizer is low. Due to an excess of nitrogen, in the autumn, young twigs of the host tree can grow. In winter, they will freeze, and the plant may die along with the truffle mycelium.

In winter, the mulch is not removed so that the truffle mycelium does not disappear. Truffle dies at +8°C.

In central Russia, truffles are grown in polycarbonate greenhouses. In order to get a crop of truffles, it is necessary to maintain a constant air temperature at +23 C, and the soil - +15 C.

It is very difficult to control the temperature manually, so the greenhouse is automated using thermal sensors and thermostats. The temperature display control is taken out of the greenhouse so as not to disturb the temperature balance inside.

As a host plant, hazelnut bushes are planted in the greenhouse. The soil must be constantly moist, so an automatic irrigation system is installed in the greenhouse.

Watering is best done using sprinkler irrigation systems. With this watering, truffles will grow faster along the hazelnut root system.

Chinese and African truffles. Growing mushrooms in a greenhouse

Unlike black truffles, Asian and African truffles can be grown in a regular greenhouse. The Chinese truffle, for example, grows under an acacia tree. Sometimes this fungus can grow on the surface of the soil.

For growing Asian and white African truffles, holes are made 40 cm deep, which are filled with mushroom mycelium by a third. At such a depth, the soil will not freeze in the autumn. Pegs are driven in along the perimeter of the planting with truffles. Agrofibre is pulled onto the pegs. In autumn, planting with Chinese truffles is mulched. With this method of growing truffles will be small.

Harvesting truffles

The first crop of truffles is harvested six years after the mycelium is planted in a greenhouse or open ground. The fruiting bodies of truffles nest in groups of five to seven. Up to 10kg of truffles can be harvested from 100m2 of planting area.

Truffle forms fruiting bodies several times per season. Truffles grow in the summer in mid-July - early August.

Usually fruiting bodies, artificially grown mushrooms, grow at a depth of 30cm-40cm. They are dug up with a garden scoop. Harvesting must be carried out carefully, as the cost of 1 kg of truffle reaches 2000 euros, and damaged mushrooms can be sold at a discounted price of -300 euros.

Harvesting black truffle

After harvesting the first crop of truffles, the soil is well fertilized, so the mushrooms will form fruiting bodies as early as next summer.