Maintenance of trees

Where there are browsing animals such as hares and in windy areas there are considerable advantages from protecting your trees with tree guards or tree shelters. In the Périgord black truffle industry and on Jeff Weston's productive bianchetto truffiére, 600 mm (high) x 150 mm KBC Tree Guards have been successful (available from, for example, Newfield Marketing, Christchurch, 03-348 0799) although a range of other products are available such as Tubex Shrubshelters (see "Taming the Truffle", p. 138).
We have not observed any problems associated with high temperatures inside Tree Guard boxes providing there has been adequate irrigation. However, if your plantation is in the hotter parts of New Zealand it would be worthwhile talking to other growers, garden suppliers, nurserymen, etc., and asking for their experiences. Cutting a line of vertical holes with a rotary saw at the lower end of the boxes will help convection currents to develop inside and cool the trees.

Ecological Requirements

Although we have covered this earlier it is an important part of a successful truffle or mushroom crop to maintain the crops needs.

Each of the mycorrhizal mushrooms along with their host trees require a unique set of conditions to grow and fruit. The bianchetto truffle will fruit on more than a dozen host trees. Examples include the stone pine, hazel and English oak. It also needs a high pH, lime-rich soil and areas with warm summers and cool winters. In New Zealand it has been cultivated in Te Puke, Waipukurau and West Melton, near Christchurch, whilst in Europe it fruits from just north of Edinburgh to as far south as Sicily.

The Painted bolete only grows on Douglas fir and in relatively low pH, free-draining soils, and in sheltered areas between 300 m and 800 m in the North Island, such as on the volcanic plateau, and up to 700 m in the South Island. The saffron milk cap only grows on acidic soils such as those suited to radiata pine. In New Zealand it has fruited from just north of Dunedin to Nelson in the South Island and as far north as Gisborne and the Waikato in the North Island. Because it grows widely in Scotland we are confident it will also grow in Southland.

The Burgundy truffle is widespread throughout Europe and fruits well from as far north as the island of Gotland off the east coast of Sweden to the warmest parts of Europe. In New Zealand a few Burgundy truffles have been found south of Oamaru.

Almost all of the edible mycorrhizal mushrooms fruit in autumn (e.g. saffron milk cap, Painted bolete, porcini, Burgundy truffle) or winter (bianchetto truffle and Périgord black truffle) while a few can occasionally be found fruiting in spring (e.g. porcini).

Pictures can speak louder then words

After a few changes this plantation south of Oamaru successfully fruited this year As we discussed earlier this photo represents the importance of irrigation within your maintenance plan. With irrigation you are probably looking at the most important aspect of maintenance.

Healthy trees are always going to be important Here is a photo of Theres Krummenacher standing under Pinus radiata infected with Saffron Milkcap. As you can see the radiata in this photo is looking really healthy and their success is testament to the fact that maintaining healthy trees is just as important as maintaining ground conditions for fungi.