Mark, if you want to keep your barrel going and increase the number of plants you have growing in other spots, what I would recommend is to move those new pups out of the barrel.
Don't move a pup unless it's in it's active growth state. Some pups, when they pop up, just sort of sit their. Wait till they are about 2 ft tall then move them. Doing this will ensure that the pup will have it's best chance of survival. Don't worry about the roots when digging it up, the most important thing is to nab part of the parent corm.
Even if you mess it up in a royal way, don't worry. Water it, give it a bit of shade and it will probably grow anyways. So don't be shy. Roots quickly replace themselves.
Lastly, leave one pup, and maybe even later another pup, to take the place of the parent when it does. That will ensure that your barrel will always have a bice banana growing in it.
That's one of the ways they maximize growth at plantations. The pups suck energy from the parent corm. So they're quickly moved away so that the parent can focus on growth and fruiting, leaving one pup to take over later.
Good luck!
