Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Setting up your truffle farm
• Part 2 of 3: Planting the logs
• Part 3 of 3: Harvesting the truffles

Truffles are considered a real delicacy because they are very tasty. However, they are also much more difficult to grow than other edible mushrooms. For both reasons, it can be a particularly lucrative business to grow truffles yourself. Since it takes a few years to start harvesting your first truffles, you need to start preparing right now.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Setting up your truffle farm

1. Choose white or black truffles for a profitable harvest. The most important truffle varieties are the white and the black truffle. In general, the black truffles are the most popular, but the white truffles are also very popular. Decide for yourself which truffles you go for.
   • Keep in mind that these types of truffles only grow well in a climate with four distinct seasons, such as Italy or France. White or black truffles do not grow well in countries where the summers are not hot and the winters are not cold. On the other hand, truffles are known that even thrive in a very harsh continental climate.
   • To grow truffles, you buy seedlings that have been grafted onto a trunk. Such a trunk was injected with truffle spores. Ask the seller which truffle varieties are for sale.
   • Make sure you buy logs from a company with the correct qualifications and permits to grow the highest quality truffles.
2. Choose the black summer truffle if you live in a more temperate climate. The black summer truffle is probably more suitable for a Dutch climate without pronounced summer or winter. Ask your supplier which truffle type is most suitable for your home or workplace.
3. Find a large, open area to grow your truffles. You need a large, open area to plant your trunks. Remember that truffles are worth a lot of money, so make sure you can protect this area from thieves.
   • Do not grow truffles on a piece of land that you cannot keep a close eye on.
4. Choose trees that promote truffle growth. Your supplier will of course choose trunks on which truffles can grow, but think carefully about this yourself. There are several trees that maintain a close symbiosis with the truffle. These include:
   • Oak
   • Hazelnut (Keep in mind that the hazelnuts will be of a lower quality as the truffles absorb most of the nutrients from the bushes).
   • Beech
   • Birch
   • Hornbeam
   • Pine
   • Poplar
5. Place a sturdy fence around the property to keep out intruders. Both humans and animals hunt for truffles. Animals for the taste, and people especially for the high price. So make sure your site is properly secured if you don't want to do all your work for nothing.
   • Use barbed wire or electric fence wire for extra security. You can also energize the entire fence.

Part 2 of 3: Planting the logs

1. Make sure the soil's pH is between 7.5 and 8.3. A high pH value is ideal for growing truffles. The ideal value is between 7.5 and 8.3. Make inquiries with farmers and growers in the area. Maybe they can offer a free or cheap ground check.
   • If the acidity of your soil is not within optimal values, it is better to choose another piece of land. It is generally very difficult to permanently change the acidity of a large area of ​​land.
2. Establish an efficient irrigation system. Your trees need a lot of constant water for themselves and for the truffles.Install an irrigation system that supplies your trees with an inch of water every week.
   • A garden hose is enough for a small piece of land. However, a large area of ​​land needs a more sophisticated system.
3. Plant between ten and a thousand trees. Plant a lot of trees on your piece of land. This ensures that a large and complex network of spores is created and that the truffles can also grow optimally. When you are still in the experimental stage, you can suffice with ten inoculated trunks at a distance of no more than one meter. Do you want a bigger harvest? Then plant between a hundred and a thousand trees on your land.
   • Do not place grafted trunks next to trees that can host other mushrooms or fungi, such as poplars, oaks, conifers or walnut trees.
4. For the first few years, remove the weeds with a hoe. Get rid of all the weeds, as they extract precious nutrients from the soil that are intended for the truffles. Mowing is not a good idea for the first two years. Just use a hoe to get all the weeds out of the ground around the trees.
   • Never use chemical weed killers on the weeds or trees, because the chances are very high that you will poison your truffles.

Part 3 of 3: Harvesting the truffles

1. Wait until the trees are at least five years old before harvesting. Keep in mind that you will have to wait five years to harvest your first truffles. It is possible that you can get the first truffles out of the ground at three years, but there are also truffles that are only ripe for harvesting after ten years. Five years is an average for the first harvest.
   • Do not root in the ground at the base of your trees until the truffles are ripe. You damage the truffles, inhibit their growth and you see your profits go up in smoke.
2. Plan your harvest for the winter. The beginning of winter is the harvest time for truffles. Wait for the temperatures to drop and then check if you have truffles that can grow out of the ground.
   • Make sure to get harvest-ready truffles from the ground before the ground is frozen and it becomes too difficult to dig them out.
3. Watch for dead grass at the base of the trees. The dying of grass is a sign that the truffles are growing. After all, the truffles take all the nutrients away from other plants around the tree.
   • The dead grass around the tree is called "brulee" because it looks burnt.
4. If necessary, train a dog to find ready-to-harvest truffles. A well-trained dog makes it much easier to harvest. The dog can not only track down the truffles, but also dig them up and bring them to you. You train your dog by giving him a reward every time he does something good, such as compliments and some dog treats. Your dog will then learn quickly.
   • You can also bring a sow to track down truffles. Pigs can do this by nature. However, if you are not careful, they will eat the truffles themselves, so you have to be careful that this does not happen.