Once the proposed truffle farm has been spiked, plowed and fenced, you will need to stake out the planting grid. You stake out the planting grid a couple of weeks before planting your truffle trees. You want to make sure that once the proposed truffle farm is staked out, you wont be needing to plow the land again. Here in Spain the planting grid is 6 meters by 6 meters ( about 18 ft by 18 ft aprox). The 6 x 6 meter planting grid is mandatory by law to receive governments grants for this project. It also allows for the trees to shade the ground in summer but let enough sunlight thru in the winter, once they are mature.
You will be planting your trees in autumn or fall, depending on which side of the Equator you are on. Fall planting of your truffle farm has a number of advantages. Your truffle trees will be entering hibernation and suffer the transplant better. You will have less mortality rate of your trees. Black truffles trees are not cheap, they cost between 5 and 7 Euros here in Spain ( September 2010 ). There is also now scientific proof that proves that when you plant your truffle farm in the fall, your truffles trees will suffer droughts better if you do not have irrigation and will produce more truffles over the life of your black truffle farm.
The holm oak, Downey oak and Hazel nut trees are your choices of truffle trees for a black truffle farm. The Holm oak is by far is the best truffle tree on the market. It is known to be a hardy and resistant host to the black truffle spore or mycelium. This black truffle tree is king when it comes to truffle trees or at least here in Europe. The holm oak is also very resistant to droughts and has a number of different strains to fit your geographical location on mother earth. The next truffle tree of choice is the Downy Oak. The Downey oak prefers a more humid environment to thrive well. It suffers droughts worse than the holm oak but it is still relatively resistant to cross contamination of undesirable micro organisms. Last but not least is the Hazel nut tree. The hazel nut tree has virtually been eliminated in Spanish black truffle farms even thou some inoculation nurseries still produce some hazel nut trees each year. Other countries have found out the hard way that the hazel nut tree is not a reliable host for the black truffle spore, mainly due to easy cross contamination with undesirable lesser quality truffles. So if someone offers you hazel nut trees as your host tree for a black truffle farm, look else where for your trees. Many people will argue this fact. One advantage the hazel nut tree has over the holm oak or downey oak is that it might produce some black truffles some years earlier. But most feel, the risk of cross contamination far out weighs the advantage of early produced black truffles, hence the fall in the use of hazel nut trees on black truffle farms.
Many people will comment that the holm oak grows in their area of the world, so a black truffle farm is possible there, because the holm oak is native to their area. Do not be mislead by this reasoning. Just because the holm oak grows where you live, it does not mean a black truffle farm is possible. Remember that you are a harvesting a crop that grows on the roots of the trees. So it is the soil condition of your proposed black truffle farm that is the deciding factor if your black truffle will be successful or not.
You will want to use some sort of tree protector on your freshly planted truffle trees. Truffle tree protectors have a number of advantages. In the province of Huesca, Spain the most common truffle tree protector is a plastic tube that has a small air chamber between the layers. This small air chamber acts as a insolation chamber. It helps protect the small sapling from excessive heat in the summer and extreme cold in the winter. This small chamber will also accumulate condensation from the air, in which will run down into the ground and will supply the truffle tree with a certain amount of water. This is a big advantage when you do not have irrigation on your land. Another advantage of the truffle tree protector is that the tree grows with no lower branches. It leaves the tree branchless the 1st half meter or so, which makes getting in close to look for truffles, remove weeds or look for trolls a lot easier. You have to make sure that the bottom of the tree protector is buried under ground to stop chimney effect. You have to make sure that hot air in the summer does not enter the bottom of the protector and escape from the top. This hot air will burn your truffle tree and will eventual kill it. So, the solution is to rake soil up the sides of the truffle tree protector into something that looks like a pyramid. The raked up soil also aids in the insolation of the truffle tree. The protectors are removed 3 to 4 years after planting your black truffle farm, in Spring time.
I am a black winter truffle farmer in the North of Spain. My farm is located on the outskirts of a town called Barbastro, Huesca, Spain. Its still a very young farm, my trees are not producing any truffles yet but the prospects are wonderful.
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