We have just analyzed root samples of in vitro produced Dundee hazel trees that we inoculated two years ago with Tuber borchii.
Dundee hazels are an in vitro hybrid between the europen hazel (Corylus avellana) and the turkish one (C. colurna), that is more vigorous and almost does not produce suckers.
“This is an experimental test in order to get hazel mycorrhized trees under non sterile conditions. Note our standard commercial trees are always produced under sterile conditions in pots in a controlled environment like following pic of these Dundee right after repotting”:
We did 2 tests: Some hazels spent a year in a pot before planted out in soil at Coselva´s nursery (see pic above); and a second group were directly planted on the soil during 2 years. The results indicate a higher percentage of mycorrhizae in the hazelnuts that were first potted (48-72%) than in those that were placed directly on the soil (0-38%).
A third test was done, using 2 yrs. old commercial hazels without truffle that were inoculated with a T. borchii “root dip” at the out planting time in spring 2015. In this case we sampled hazelnuts to which they had applied fertilizer and another group in which they did not. The results have been a persistence and even increase of borchii mycorrhizal levels detected a year ago, being higher in the case of non-fertilized hazelnuts (65-80%) than in fertilized hazelnuts (30-43%).
Cheers,
Xavier Vilanova
trufflefarming 