Hello! Thank you for your question to AskExtension/Ask a Master Gardener. We are happy to answer your questions about house plants as well as yard and garden questions. You posed an excellent question, and the photos you included are very helpful. I think you will be happy with the information that follows!

The plant your daughter gifted you is commonly called an Arrowhead or Arrowhead Vine. It has other common names, American Evergreen, African Evergreen, Green Gold Naphthysis, and Trileaf Wonder, to name a few. (Its botanical name is Syngonium podophyllum, which is important to distinguish it from other “arrowhead” and similarly named plants.)

Your plant looks to be in very good shape. It appears to be healthy and free of pests. You are taking excellent care; it must love the light in the location where it is growing, and it looks to have just the right amount of water. Keep up the great job! I can understand that you would like to keep the cute planter that is a treasured gift. It’s probable that you can grow an offspring of your plant in this planter. But I am getting ahead of myself! Read on!

Your question asked if it was time to re-pot the plant. The short answer is "probably yes". This plant needs to be repotted every year or two for maximum growth and health. Do not, however, bury the plant deeper in soil. That wouldn’t be good for the plant and might even kill it. The “legginess” that you see is the vining growth pattern (called “habit”) that is normal for this plant. Syngonium podophyllum starts out as upright shoots with ovate or heart-shaped leaves and a bushy habit. As it matures the leaves become arrow shaped, and the plant habit becomes vining. You can provide a moss pole or trellis for the plant and “train” it to climb, or you can trim it back to maintain a more bush-like shape. Some people use Syngonium podophyllum in hanging baskets and allow it to vine. Here’s an excellent article from NC State Extension that gives great info about your plant. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/syngonium-podophyllum/

When deciding whether to re-pot, check the roots of your plant to see if they are packed tightly into the pot (rootbound). If not, you can rejuvenate your plant by trimming it back. I am guessing, it is rootbound and will need to be re-potted. Use a container that is two inches in diameter wider and one to two inches deeper than your current container, but no larger. Use fresh, good quality potting soil. Here are a couple of articles about re-potting houseplants that you might find helpful:

https://extension.psu.edu/repotting-houseplants

https://extension.umn.edu/news/tips-repotting-houseplants

https://wayne.ces.ncsu.edu/2022/04/repotting-houseplants/

It is super easy to propagate your Arrowhead to create new plants, which you can then re-pot into the container given to you by your daughter. (Be sure to clean container thoroughly and use fresh potting soil.) You can take cuttings and root in water or soil. Alternately, you can split your plant. Some articles with information on propagating Syngonium podophyllum :

https://www.uaex.uada.edu/yard-garden/resource-library/plant-week/arrowhead-philodendron.aspx

https://marylandgrows.umd.edu/2017/11/20/make-more-plants-from-cuttings-5-plants-that-root-easily-in-water/

https://naes.agnt.unr.edu/PMS/Pubs/1998-3384.pdf

I hope to have answered your question, but if you need clarification, or if the response has generated additional questions, please feel free to reply to this email. It will come directly to me, and I will be happy to reply. Best of luck to you with your Arrowhead!

Just to clarify: You could do both, take cuttings and then re-pot. I would give it a couple of weeks to "recover" from having the cuttings taken and then re-pot. Meanwhile, root the cuttings in water. When they have new roots you can plant them in the lovely butterfly planter from your daughter.

LMK if you need more info.

I re-potted this Syngonium plant and I thought about you! Thinking maybe you are interested in seeing the results. After I replanted, I inserted the trellis, and then clipped the plant to it with tiny hair clips. If you zoom in on the photo, I think you can see them. 

Hope your plant is doing well!

Fantastic job repotting your plant!  It looks wonderful. Don't be alarmed if it loses a few leaves to "transplant shock" over the next few weeks. It is common.

I like what you did with the dowel rods in creating a surround. Clever! 

Let me know if I can be of any assistance, and all the best in your plant adventures.