How to grow truffles
April 14th, 2011
How to grow truffles mushrooms? Growing truffle mushrooms is hard, but with a bit of luck and choosing a correct plot, they can be grown. Truffle mushrooms is an underground mushroom which grow in the roots of hazelnut or live oaks. The spore disposal is done with the help of the animals that eat fungus. There are more than 70 varieties of truffles, but only a few varieties are available for purchase. It will take many years to cultivate the first crop, but after that, it will produce a crop every year regularly. The demand for truffle mushrooms is huge, so they are generally sold at a higher price.
Choosing a plot:
Choose a plot where you get adequate sunshine, even during the fall. The ground should be flat at any point. Remove any trees in the surrounding area, as they may contaminate the roots of truffles trees and will compete with truffles for water.
Soil:
Truffles mushrooms requires a high pH soil. Find out your pH of the soil and it must be anywhere between 7.5 to 7.9. Optimize your pH, if its not near to this pH. Optimization can done by the addition of limestone, which increases the pH of the soil. Tilt the soil with the help of a rototiller. Truffles can grow even in low fertile soil, but make sure to add some organic fertilizers and tilt the soil again.
Growing truffles:
Purchase truffles from a successful farmer or from a reputable vendor. Dig the hole such that each hole is twice as wide as the tree ball and twice as deep as tree ball. Remove the tree from its container and place it in the hole. Carefully fill the soil to prevent any air packets. Remove the air packets if any, by patting the soil.
Watering:
Make sure that you tree ball is moist. Water them regularly, to maintain the moisture. Remove the weeds, which compete with your truffles for water and nutrients by hand.
Harvest:
If you happen to find the bulges around the trees, then it is a sign that, they are ready to get harvested by the end of winter. It usually takes around 5 to 10 years for the bulges to form. Harvesting should be done at the right time, because truffles bloom for only 10 days. Harvest them with the help of truffle dogs or truffle pigs as they can sense the strong scent coming out from it. Generally prefer truffle dogs rather than pigs, because pigs might eat the truffles.
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