Grower (FARM) Orders

Most truffle inoculated trees are grown to order. Large orders need to be placed at least twelve months prior to delivery and  scheduled into our production plan. Orders are secured with a deposit paid at the time of ordering.

Generally orders are placed at the time of liming and soil preparation. After amelioration with lime, it can take several months for the soil pH to reach the minimum requirement of 7.5

To discuss your requirements and to obtain a current order form please contact the nursery. Enquiries welcome

retail (BACKYARD) sales

Some stock is available for adhoc /retail sales without having to place a pre-order. These are best suited to gifts and hobby scale plantings and is limited to order quantities of up to 10 plants.

Planting guide

Click below for a free general planting guide (pdf).

Inoculation

At Gembrook we inoculate tree seedlings with DNA tested inoculum using expert methods developed and perfected in house over many years. The inoculation procedure is conducted as a sterile laboratory process soon after germination. Sterile media, containers and environmental conditions are absolutely essential to ensure invading, strongly competitive soil borne fungi such as Scleroderma and Hebeloma are excluded.

DNA testing of the inoculum is carried out by external certified laboratories as part of our quality assurance regime to avoid contamination from species such as T. brumale and T. indicum. Every effort is made to ensure a high level of colonisation with the desired truffle species.

Analysing roots for colonisation

The seedlings are planted in tree tubes and grown on in a multi-span greenhouse for approximately eighteen months. Periodic microscopic sampling is carried out to check for truffle colonisation. Finally as part of the selection process, seedlings are checked before being released for despatch.

TREE CERTIFICATION - NOW KNOWN AS AVSTEP

The Australian Truffle Growers Association (ATGA) conducts a certification/evaluation program to verify the truffle inoculated seedlings are adequately colonised with the desired truffle species. After a recent name change the program is now referred to as the ATGA Validated Seedling Tree Evaluation Program (AVSTEP). The evaluation is available through Trufficulture (at additional cost) and is performed by an independent laboratory. The evaluation comprises of comprehensive destructive examination of a statistical sample from a batch of trees for overall seedling health, root colonisation levels with desired truffle species, followed by DNA analysis to confirm the seedlings are free from other truffle contaminants.