Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi requires full sun and good drainage to do well in a garden. It will not do well in the shade. This species would be ideal in a rockery surrounded by low-growing succulents.

Cycads require regular feeding to maintain a healthy plant. An annual application of well-matured compost in the autumn improves the condition of the soil. In the early spring, apply two handfuls of a mixture of bone meal, organic fertilizer and a balanced inorganic fertilizer to each plant. High pressure irrigation systems damage the leaves and stems of cycads and they need to be avoided; this species does not require a great deal of water. In very dry areas, watering with a sprinkler will be adequate.

Propagation of Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi can be done by sowing seed or removing well-matured suckers from the mother plant. To produce true to type seed it is necessary to hand-pollinate the female cone with pollen harvested from a male cone of the same species. The seed is sown in the spring on a bed of clean, coarse sand which has bottom heat of 25-28º C. This species is slow to germinate and can take up to a year before all of the seed has germinated. The radicle develops first followed by the leaves and within 10 months the seedlings are removed and potted into a 3-litre plastic sleeve containing a well-drained growing medium. The seedlings are watered sparingly until the first signs of growth appear.

Propagation by division involves removing well-developed suckers of approximately 250 mm diameter from the mother plant. Early spring is an ideal time when all leaves are removed from the sucker which is then carefully eased away from the main stem. The sucker needs to be left to dry off the wound before planting in clean sand which encourages root development. Once well-rooted, the sucker can be planted out in the open ground.

Pests encountered are scale mealy bugs, caterpillars and snout beetles. Spray with a contact insecticide. Snout beetles destroy cycad seed. Scale and mealy bugs occur on the underside of the leaves. A tiny gall midge can damage new leaves as they appear and they turn black. As new leaves start appearing, the crown of the stem needs to be sprayed with a contact insecticide once every two weeks.