How to make a jungle in a bowl!

Get your green fingers at the ready…

Fancy bringing the roar-some world of the rainforest into your bedroom? Then follow the steps below and make your very own indoor jungle!

How to make a jungle in a bowl

A clear glass bowl, a bag of aquatic planting compost, three small potted plants, animal figurines, dark pebbles, and newspaper are arranged together on a white background—perfect supplies for learning how to make a jungle in a bowl.

What you’ll need

A clear glass or plastic container
Potting soil
Potted plants
Model animals
Pebbles

Step 1

A hand reaches out to pick up smooth black stones from a pile placed on newspaper pages, perhaps as part of learning how to make a jungle in a bowl.

Lay down some newspaper so that you don’t make a mess. Next, find a clear container – like a glass bowl, vase or jar (we’ve used a fish tank) – and place some pebbles at the bottom to create a drainage system for your jungle habitat.

Step 2

A close-up of a person’s hand pressing a fist into a mound of soil on newspaper pages, as they prepare the mix—an essential first step in learning how to make a jungle in a bowl for indoor gardening.

Add a layer of potting soil on top of the pebbles – make it deep enough to cover the plants’ roots.

Step 3

A person arranges small potted plants on newspaper, showing how to make a jungle in a bowl. They hold a toy giraffe above one plant, labeled “Dionaea,” with a toy hippopotamus beside the pots.

Now it’s time to add the plants! To create a jungle theme, we’ve used ferns, flowers and a Venus fly trap – but you can use any plants you like!

Step 4

Two side-by-side images: on the left, a hand pressing into a pile of soil; on the right, someone planting a small flowering plant in soil—an inspiring start for anyone curious about how to make a jungle in a bowl.

Make holes in the soil where you want the plants to go. When you remove the plants from their pots, gently get rid of the excess soil around the roots and place them in the holes. Press the soil down around them.

Step 5

A person demonstrates how to make a jungle in a bowl by pouring water into a glass bowl filled with plants on the left and using their hand to adjust or plant a small red flower among lush greenery on the right.

When all the plants are in, lightly water them. Now all you need to do is add your animals and use a few of the left-over pebbles for decoration. Then find a great place to display your brilliant indoor jungle. Roarrr-some!