Abstract
In 2007, 42 Pinus radiata and 10 Pinus sylvestris seedlings mycorrhized by Lactarius deliciosus (saffron milk cap) were planted separately at 5 × 5 m spacing in two blocks on lawns at Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand. Over 8 years following planting, the number of mushrooms produced per tree and the total yield of mushrooms were recorded. Saffron milk caps were first produced from Pinus radiata 2 years after planting, with 88% of trees productive after five fruiting seasons. Mushrooms were first produced from Pinus sylvestris 4 years after planting, with all trees productive after four fruiting seasons. For both plantations, the average mushroom yield per tree increased year by year until the fifth fruiting season when it reached a maximum of 1.11 kg per tree on P. radiata (444 kg/ha) and 1.23 kg per tree (490 kg/ha) on P. sylvestris. In the sixth and seventh years of fruiting, the number of mushrooms per P. radiata tree declined by 22% from the peak, while the average weight of mushrooms dropped by 45%; the mean yield of 0.37 kg/tree for these 2 years was 67% less than the mean yield in 2014 (1.1 kg/tree). The decline in yields from P. radiata could be attributed to canopy closure, which started 7 years after planting, and/or dry conditions in the autumns of 2015 and 2016. Pinus sylvestris trees grew an average 30% slower than P. radiata and, after 9 years, have not reached canopy closure. After five fruiting seasons, P. sylvestris yielded 1.23 kg/tree. This study provides unprecedented reports of the dynamics of mushroom yields in pine orchards. The long-term monitoring of these trials and the development of new treatments, such as pruning, plantation layout, selection of best partners, soil moisture, and temperature, will be crucial to develop efficient saffron milk cap farming techniques.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are deeply grateful to Jesús Pérez-Moreno for his contribution to the present book, Ian R. Hall for having encouraged and initiated the research on cultivation of Lactarius deliciosus in New Zealand, Daniel Mousain for having maintained alive and generously given to us in 2005 the pure culture isolates originating from Southern France, and Shu-hong Li (Biotechnology & Germplasm Resources Institute, Yunnan, China) for his support during the 2012 harvesting season. We also would like to acknowledge all our colleagues without whose support and trust this work would have never been possible: David Hughes, Stephen Griffith, Ralph Scott, Nina Hesom-Williams, Nicholas Cummings, Ron van Toor, George Strong, and Grant Morris. Scott Thompson from Landcare Research, Lincoln, contributed to the sites’ maintenance. We thank Daniel Mousain, Ron van Toor, and Andrew Pitman for helpful suggestions to improve the manuscript. Last but not least, we are grateful to all our enthusiastic saffron milk cap customers who helped us continue to pioneer the cultivation of these colorful delicacies in harsh funding times.
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Guerin-Laguette, A., Butler, R., Wang, Y. (2020). Advances in the Cultivation of Lactarius deliciosus (Saffron Milk Cap) in New Zealand. In: Pérez-Moreno, J., Guerin-Laguette, A., Flores Arzú, R., Yu, FQ. (eds) Mushrooms, Humans and Nature in a Changing World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37378-8_5
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