I’m Gianfranca, I started growing my first orchid back in 2008. A white Phalaenopsis that died from being kept in a glass jar with water.

From that moment on, I started surfing the internet to understand how to grow these wonderful plants. I took a classic path by signing up for a forum where moderators guided newbies.

The passion for having new plants that I can grow was born in me and I realized very soon that having small plants is not as easy as making a cutting of succulents. But I had a chance: orchids make keiki (literally it means child and refers to small plants that are produced by some orchids for natural inclination or for a non-optimal cultivation).

So I turned to looking for small keiki – or battered plants – to get small seedlings. I received some as a gift … but how to make them live?

From that moment on, my mission has become to recover plants in difficulty or to help grow the little keiki that would not have made it on their own.

I experimented with the “sphagnotherapy” technique with the help of an expert and slowly I learned by saving and growing sphagnum seedlings. Thanks to the high percentage of successes, friends started calling me with the nickname of “Madam Mim”.

My passion has never waned and I have perfected my orchid growing techniques, planting divisions both on raft and in basket.

I am part of the Lazio Orchid Association for which I teach training courses in the field of “Recovery of plants and techniques for the construction of supports for orchids”, such as rafts and baskets with various materials.