SAS 30 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Puffball, Decomposer, Panic Attack
Document Summary
Two men who owned truffle bears, which is uncommon. Cannot be cultivated because they are mycorrhizal fungi, and they require a plant as a host. Fruiting bodies will not be produced unless there is a host. Science has not figured out how to trick the fungi into thinking it is attached to a host when it really isn"t, therefore we cannot mass produce them. People can choose to plant a lot of the host plants favored by truffles in order to grow more of them. Climate and soil type must be correct. It takes ten years to achieve maximum production. Colonization of roots by other mycorrhizae outcompetes truffles. Therefore, people plant them in non-native areas where there is less competition. Climate and soil must still be correct though. People are planting hazelnuts in sonoma county ! instead of grapes. Too early to say if it is successful.
