Hey everyone,

I have an Umbrella plant that desperately needs help. For my part, I got it about 3.5 years ago and it's been pretty much ignored and neglected for the past 1.5ish years (my fault). I got it from my grandmother and it means a lot to me so I am hoping not all is lost.

I've attached some photos (including two before pics for reference; the first two are how it looked when I got it, the last four are how it looks now ). I live in Florida so it never sees snow but I brought it inside when temps got down to around 35-40 degrees recently. The pot it is in has dimensions as follows: 11.5in diameter, 8in tall.

I have been perusing some stuff online but quite frankly I don't know what is good info and what is not. Nothing is really making sense and it is very overwhelming. Repot? Don't re-pot? If re-potting, how big of a pot? And it seems like there are 8,000 different re-potting processes.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts/insight. Where you see it in these pics is where it probably gets most light in the evening (none before that).

Hi and welcome. What part of Florida do you live in? I am in North Central zone 9A. Some places in FL starting around the Tampa Orlando line and going South plant these out and they grow into full grown huge trees. Sometimes when you are driving on the freeway through there you can see them blooming in the right season.
I used to have one of these (its a Sheffelera) but I think I gave it away a long time ago. I can't help you with your questions, but in general, it may look leggy because it hasn't gotten enough light. Ones that I see growing out and about are upright because they are grown in very bright high light. If it's been in the same soil for 3.5 years, it IS most likely time for a repot into fresh soil.
How you repot is a touchy subject. I grow a lot of plants of many different genera and I was taught 30 years ago by mentor that when you repot you do not remove old soil, and you do not wash roots, and you do not trim roots unless its absolutely necessary. When I repot anything, I unpot it and gently shake it to remove just the soil that is loose. I leave what is around the rootball intact to minimize damage to the root system, the I place it in a container that is only one size higher than what its in (ex, if its in a gallon, I move it to a 2 gallon. If its in a 3 gallon, I step it up to a 5 gallon. If its in a little 2" pot, it gets a 4"pot etc.

Hi & welcome!

There are some before/after examples of trimming & repotting umbrella plants (a/k/a Schefflera) in this discussion:
The thread "What do I do with these leggy Schefflera's?" in Houseplants forum

It can be more trouble than it's worth to try to keep an older, trimmed trunk as a houseplant. It can be more enjoyable to trim off the fresh, young tips, stick them in a new pot, and once you are sure they have taken root and are growing well, forget about the original plant. If all you really want is a pot of pretty leaves at a reasonable height, that can be an easy method.

If you take ANY care at all in how you repot it, you'll do fine. In your area you can leave it outside all year long. We have some 25-30 year old ones in the ground (Pomona, CA) that we do horrible things to 2 or 3 times a year and they refuse to die. They just keep coming back for more.

@CalPolygardener you are in 9B CA, what would you say is your average lowest coldest temp ever? No one here where I live in my part of FL would plant a sheffie out because we don't think they will make it through if we get the occasional 24-25F temp. I'd be willing to try it here if I thought I had a chance

Average lowest ever used to be around 25*, occasionally it has gotten to 23. Lately it hardly ever gets to that. I know those have been through that or very close to it while I've been here for the last 20 years. They are on the North side of an 8-story office building. I would think that you could give them some winter cover when it gets that cold for a few years and then they should be able to take it with some damage but not death. There are numerous Dracaena marginatas around that get nipped back every few years, but they come back too.