Comments on: First crop of Lactarius deliciosus

By: Gareth

Gareth — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:59:02 +0000

Hi Alex, thanks for the interest. To grow Saffron Milkcaps properly, you need to start with seedling pines infected with the fungus. As far as I know, they are not currently available ex-nurseries in NZ – though there might be one or two that could do it to order.

Cheers

By: axel

axel — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:25:23 +0000

Hi there,

Saw your articles and so have registered. I too am keen to grow milkcaps on radiata. I grew up collecting them around Melbourne, Australia. My parents are East Europeans and love them – i have collected and barbecued, pickled and eaten raw heaps over the years. They are not unlike a sweetmeat rather than a fungi. If anyone could kindly advise me how i could start some up (i have about ten acres of 25 year old radiatas that may soon fell and possibly replace some) then i am all ears and eager to befriend anyone who cares to help me towards this end, ta, alex (ph021 210 2500)

By: Gareth

Gareth — Sun, 15 May 2011 03:11:43 +0000

We’ve not been having huge success, I’m sorry to report. Although the trees have grown very well, the site is dry and not (currently) irrigated. We also have lots of rabbits digging round the trees. I don’t think the soil’s an issue — it’s not the lime-rich stuff we have in the truffiere.

By: jon234567890

jon234567890 — Sun, 08 May 2011 12:39:33 +0000

Hi Gareth,
sorry if I’ve missed an update on the Lactarius deliciosus trial patch that you’ve mentioned here but have you had any more success in harvesting them?
I thought that they couldn’t be grown on Alkaline soils?

By: Gareth

Gareth — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:42:38 +0000

If you’re in NZ, I can point you at a supplier… Let me know.

By: MARTHEO

MARTHEO — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:02:08 +0000

Hi guys,
I would reaaaally appreciate it if anyone could tell me where I could get infected with SMC fungus pine trees from!!!
Many thanks!

By: Ana

Ana — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:02:24 +0000

thanks for that info
cheers

By: Gareth

Gareth — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:42:17 +0000

Hi Ana,

The normal way to do this is to plant seeding trees that have been infected with the fungus you want. It is possible – at least theoretically – to introduce the fungus on to older trees, but they will already have established relationships with suitable fungi, and they might be hard to dislodge.

One way to do this is to rip the soil around the trees so that you damage the roots, and then introduce the spores of the mushroom into the soil. If all goes well, new roots grow and become infected with the new fungus. This is fine in theory, but never that simple in practice. One drawback is having a source of saffron milk caps. The commercial crops being grown in the Gisborne area are being exported. And I don’t have any spare… sorry!

Hope that helps.

By: Ana

Ana — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:24:12 +0000

hi we have some 18yearold pine trees on our farm and would like to know more about the saffron mushrooms and how to go about producing them Cheers

By: Gareth

Gareth — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 21:04:38 +0000

As I understand it (and I defer to Ian’s expertise in this matter), SMC is an aggressive fungus, and once established could well spread through the rest of your trees replacing the fungi already present (or at least, to some extent). I have plans – when my existing trees produce more mushrooms than I can eat, which might be a while – to try to post-infect some mature radiata.

With the flies, as long as you pick the fruitbodies (ie mushrooms) before their eggs hatch, they’ll be fine. I’m not sure how long the egg – hatch – larvae cycle takes, but the mushroom does have to have been around for a reasonable length of time for it to be a problem from a consumption point of view. When I pick porcini in Christchurch, for example, if I pick “new” fruitbodies (from a post-rain flush of fruiting) they’re usually fine – it’s only the ones that have escaped being picked and hung around for a week or more that are “wormy”.