If you own a truffle orchard / plantation we have several services of interest – “rent a truffle hound”, root testing and GIS.
Rent a truffle hound services
You can “rent a truffle hound” and handler by the day or hour to harvest your truffle crop. We have been undertaking this service, including in truffle orchards (truffières), since 2008 so have considerable experience.
Please contact us with your postcode to request a quotation. We will respond with a price based on hunting time, travel time and mileage. Again, there is a minimum hire period of two hours which can be extended as required. We can also use our network of local truffle hunters to get the nearest one to you and reduce travel costs.
Root Testing Services
While your young truffle trees might look healthy, what you really want to know is how the truffle fungus is doing under the ground. The truffle fungus is mycorrhizal, meaning it is attached to the roots of the host plant. Its persistence on inoculated trees that have been planted out is one of the most important factors in truffle cultivation success.
What is root testing?
It is possible to take root samples from established trees and observe the mycorrhiza under a microscope. There are thousands of species of fungi that can form such structures on the roots of plants, and, in many cases, their identity can be determined by looking at key features. For the truffle fungus, we can look for their mycorrhiza that make root-tips appear swollen. It is possible that the target truffle fungus is replaced by other competitive species. Our root testing service will look at samples of your tree’s roots and tell you the numbers:
- mycorrhized by the declared truffle species
- mycorrhized by other fungal species
- mycorrhized by other truffles
- non-mycorrhized
Why have root testing undertaken?
Ongoing monitoring of the truffle fungus is a very important tool for management of truffle plantations / orchards.
1. It is relatively inexpensive
2. It can detect the level of development of truffle mycorrhizae which, in turn, indicates fruiting potential.
3. There is no point spending time/efforts on tree management if the target truffle mycorrhizae cannot be found on the roots.
Interested?
Please get in touch for prices. We can visit your plantation to take the root samples for you or provide guidelines for you to do it and then send them to us. We can also run a one-day workshop on root testing to train you how to do it and understand what equipment is needed.
GIS
With nearly 25 year’s experience of GIS (Geographic Information Systems), we are able to work with a range of GIS apps including on mobile phones and tablets. These allow field-based working, such as recording the location of truffle finds, with geographically referenced photographs, or for soil or root testing. Contact us to discuss your ideas.
