Tuber magnatum Picco is the most expensive of the truffles and lots of research has been carried out in an attempt to understand its ecology and biology. There is a lot of information on its life cycle that remain unclear and that made its cultivation extremely difficult and only recently have we had the scientific proofs that it could be possible.  T. magnatum is considered the best truffle because of its intense aroma and unique flavour. As a consequence, Italian retail prices for T. magnatum are higher than for any other truffle and make it one of the world’s most expensive foods, wit ..read more

I´ve been invited as a keynote speaker at the next NATGA congress in Paso Robles, CA, to be done next October 8th-10th. The organization has created a great event, mix of technical features with field visits and tastings, even allowing stands related to the truffle industry and suppliers…maybe a new “truffle festival” is born in CA? See more information here: https://trufflegrowers.com/event/fall-2023-truffle-congress-paso-robles-ca/ Come and join us! I´m looking forward to meet growers and friends there in 30 days from today! Cheers, Marcos Morcillo ..read more

A new paper was published early this year: Tuber melanosporum drives the symbiosis with Castanea sativa seedlings under greenhouse conditions and high calcium levels Because chestnuts normally grow on not alcaline soils, in this research they focused on the effects of Ca++ and carbonate in truffle growth. Therefore, it is well explained the calcium paradox, where the truffle mycelium, with its “rock eating capacity” helps to solubilise the Ca++ and active carbonate (<50 microns), pumps Ca++ ion to the tree, while at the same time increases soil pH and creates some nutrient d ..read more

the black truffle season in Spain begins in mid-November and lasts until mid-March. It has been very good in terms of productions, similar to the previous year in many areas and maybe 20% lower in other regions. The problem, as we all expected after seeing the truffle market in the southern hemisphere a few months earlier, has been the prices, because the restaurants and hotels have been half closed. In addition, the year 2020 affected the storm Gloria, which left 200mm of water at once, leaving the soil of many plantations excessively compact and due to the Covid confinement, many truffle g ..read more

The other paper I wanted to talk is Edaphic and temporal patterns of Tuber melanosporum fruit body traits and effect of localised peat-based amendment In this study, authors aim to investigate T. melanosporum fruit bodies (FB) traits such as weight, maturity, shape and probability of Leiodes infestation comparing in different soil types and inside nests or spanish wells. Truffle growers claim that nests increase truffle quality, although some growers warn on the issues related to the re-wetting problem of peat after drying, while others consider that truffle growing in nests present ..read more

Diario de Teruel has just published this interesting figure about truffle farming in Aragon area in central Spain, the epicenter of truffle growing in Spain and where probably comes from around 70% of the world black truffle! Teruel has the 78,2% of the hectares already in production in Aragón and 67% from the total planted in the whole region.  5.500 hectares are in production in Teruel, and 844 hectares with irrigation systems. The effort to get water and invest in irrigation has busted production in the area with regular yields year to year. The Teruel growers Association is promoting ..read more

With a black truffle harvesting season that runs from mid-May to early September, and volumes increasing year after year, truffle growers in the southern hemisphere encountered a full-blown pandemic and completely closed borders, which of course nullified export possibilities. In July some restaurants in some countries reopened and demand recovered somewhat, both domestic and export. Even so, several truffle growers explain the nightmare of searching for new shipping channels, some through unusual hubs. In this link you can see the potential maps for truffle cultivation in some of these count ..read more

A new paper has been published about the effects of glyphosate in truffle plantations: Glyphosate treatments for weed control affect early stages of root colonization by Tuber melanosporum but not secondary colonization. Mycorrhiza (2020) 30:725–733 Vol.:(0112 33456789) We already wrote about it some time ago in this post: https://trufflefarming.wordpress.com/2018/11/23/glyphosate-has-already-been-detected-on-truffle-fruitbodies/ It is a topic to be discussed as lots of growers use it, in Spain, Basta or Finale is not available since a couple of years ago, and even in the following paper auth ..read more

Hi all there! lots of growers have approached me the last months asking why I don´t post anymore and I realized I unattended my blog without even noticing. The reason is that I took a sabbatical year to do a trip around the world with my family. That simple and it has been a total disconnection, even social networks, as I did not even take my mobile phone to this journey. It´s been a terrific experience I do recommend anyone. I returned with all bateries charged, as a truffleholic missing my team, my trees, my farm and my truffles and looking forward new truffle adventures. During this trip i ..read more

The last months the CITA research center, in Spain, has published two great papers analyzing the truffle fruit bodies from two seasons in different soil types and for the first time inside spanish wells with peat moss. This is the second paper just published Lack of Linkages among Fruiting Depth, Weight, and Maturity in Irrigated Truffle Fungi Marks the Complexity of Relationships among Morphogenetic Stages the authors wanted to check if in Fruit Body (FB) clusters, the weight of the largest FB would show a negative relationship with the weight of the remaining FBs, due to the local resource ..read more