Truffle Spores and Growing Truffles

Growing Truffles

• Truffles demand a moderate climate where freezing temperatures occur but not to the extent that the ground freezes. The soil in which truffles are grown must be highly alkalinic with a pH level between 7.9 and 8.1 or the development of truffles will not occur. Most soils that venture on the side of acidity will need to be treated with applications of lime in order to promote the growth of truffles.

Cultivation

• Growing truffles demands that the surrounding soil be well-watered and well-drained. Careful cultivation is essential, with applications of mulch to the surrounding earth helpful in retaining moisture, controlling competitive weeds and maintaining a healthy soil temperature. In most cases, truffles will begin to appear between four and six years after the initial planting and will be discovered approximately 6 inches deep in the earth. Dogs are trained to sniff out the exact location of the edible fungus.

Truffle Spores

• While the spores of other fungi are typically dispersed via wind and rain, truffle spores demand the intervention of an animal for fungal spread. Since truffles grow underground, they must be dug up by an animal and then consumed. The truffle spores are not digested, but rather pass through the animal and are deposited in other locations, usually a considerable distance from where they originated. This process is not necessary in commercial orchards because the truffle spores are inoculated into the host tree.

Fun Facts

• The fact that they grow underground differentiates truffles from other types of mushrooms. Humans are known to have harvested truffles as long ago as 1600 B.C., and pigs have historically been used to locate and dig up the fungi, although keeping the animal from devouring the truffle demands strength and skill. Commercial truffle-growing orchards began to appear in the 1970's and 1980's as the demand increased and the price of truffles regularly reached several hundred dollars per pound.