Date Palms do not have pups. If it IS a date palm, those are 4-5 different trees potted in the same pot.

Its in the ground now about a foot thick. The pups are growing from between the fonds near the base. I am fairly certain that they are growing from the parent plant and are not seedlings that sprouted from the grower or something. I also thought that Date Palms grew either dates or pups?
Whatever the case I need to know how big they need to be "size" to remove? I have no idea how old any of them are.
How many roots need there be? Thanx

Some info on survival rates -vs- Offshoot sizes at link,

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Date Palm Offshoots

First off Alan, lemme tell you that your one of the luckiest men alive.
I worked the Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Restore and absolutly fell in love with the Pensacola/Pace/Milton area.
The kindness of the people was something that I was used to. One would think that in Middle America (Kansas) that neighbors were like family. In fact, it is the opposite. I have lived here for a year and a half and I know TWO of my neighbors. When I told a guy in Pensacola how it was in Kansas, he went crazy. He told me all about EVERY neighbor of his and what/how/where each and every one of them did for the storm and what EACH person did after the storm to help. You should be VERY proud of your city.
Next, if it is a Date palm and has seperate trees, I would just leave them as the root system is VERY delicate and it is hard to get dirt up into the root ball.
I really do not have much experience in repotting other palms other than Date, so I will not give advice.

From what I have read Phoenix dactylifera will make pups slowly over time. They tend to remain subordinate to the main trunk. To remove pups clear away dirt (carefully) from around the pup. Check for roots and take a sharp instrument and (carefully) cut between the main trunk and the pup. Make sure to not injure the parent. Use lime or some type of agent to cleanse and seal the cuts. If the pup has roots you could pot it up for some recovery time or plant it in the ground. If it has few roots it would be best to cut off the fronds and shelter the pup in a shady area until new growth appears.

Thats what I gleaned from "Palms Throughout The World" by David L. Jones.

aren't there suckers? i think they only come on mature trees tho

Yes, I stand corrected. I was thinking since this guy said that he bought it at "Wal Mart" and so when I said that they didn't sucker, what I meant was THOSE at "wal Mart" would not be Date palms because they would be those "Wal Mart" Date palms that they plant 3-5 in per pot, since Date Palms sucker only at a very mature age.

I don't know what the difference is between suckers and pups other than one is good and the other isn't. There are attached On top of or between fonds near the base, not growing out of the ground, but close enough roots could reach. Its a year and a half now and I believe it was a Date Palm. I think about three off shoots "I'll call them now" have grown since I have had it.
Well this has stirred up more mysteries than I needed. Well come about April I'll remove the big one and plant it and see what happens. Thanx everybody!!!

If what you see are true pups/suckers/offshoots, it's possible you might have a Phoenix reclinata (Senegal date).

A pictures in this case would be worth a thousand words. theyre are many types of "date palms" a picture would let us be able to identify it first.

Hi Alan, I just found your posting. How’s that offshoot or pups whatever you call them turn up? It has been 12 years I believe you would be having an orchard by now. Any update on them? The year you planted yours was the same year I planted several date palm seeds from store bought fruits in our backyard. Well, two trees survived, a male and a female and growing happily about 25 feet apart with many offshoots that I intend to remove and transplant just like you did.