Wally, if your goal is simply to get your plant back to a more compact size and form, I would suggest making it easy on yourself and taking a few cuttings (make sure they are stem cuttings, not just the leaves), rooting them in a jar of water, and then planting those cuttings together. Leave the "mother plant" growing until you're sure your cuttings have rooted and then are happy once you pot them up. I've done this with my schefflera many times, and my cuttings have never failed to form roots in the water and then "take" when I put them into a pot with potting mix.
