Personally I don't think it takes much to bloom a barbata type so with any bit of a secondary growth, boom!. You get a flower at the right time of the year (plant's picking, not mine). Mike, you will probably agree, the barbatum group of all the groups is the most dependent on its root system. The lost or even the begining of root trouble I've seen my plants go into a slow death mode and not be able to bring them back. With the discovery of the vini and Stewart Orchids, OZ breeding programs thousands of barbatum hybrids were made. Carefree growing became the norm with many of mine blooming on these so-called immature growths. Root maintance was easy with so much genetics involved.
Have you ever divided one of these plants and only had these "pups" as divisions? I have never. The fans seem to keep growing even after blooming. Although no new leaves emerge from the crown but the pre-bloom leaves continue to expand. Has anyone else seen this?