It makes new growth every year, usually after blooming is completed.
The formation of the smaller, terminal leaf, is telling you that that growth is mature and it is time to cut back on watering. If you don't alter your watering, it may still bloom with a few flowers but if you really cut back on water you might see 20, 30 or 50 flowers on the plant.
No, not like bamboo. Each bulb or cane typically lasts 4, 5 or even 8 years depending upon culture.
When you think of Phalaenopsis culture they are EASY to grow. Everything is pretty straight forward.
But in growing other orchids you can get into subtle nuances that can make a huge difference in terms of flower production. You have to remember that the Orchid Family is the worlds largest family with over 30,000 species and somewhere around 300,000 hybrids! It stands to reason that they do not all grow the same.
In the Iris family I am guessing that there is some diversity but not to the degree that you find in orchids. The majority grow within certain parameters. Some grow outside the normal conditions. But in orchids we have cool growers, we have warm growers and we have intermediate growers. We have low light plants, high light plants and medium light plants. Growing orchids can be a fairly simple task like growing African violets but if you like to grow Draculas, it becomes a lot more complicated. And REWARDING!!
