Leucadendron discolor can be propagated from cuttings or seed. Sowing seed is the easier method and requires no specialist equipment. It also produces a more resilient and better shaped plant. Make cuttings if you have a mother plant with special features, e.g. darker red flowerheads than other plants. This is the only way to preserve these features. Cuttings tend to produce a plant with a shallower, weaker root system but if planted in a garden situation with regular watering this is not too much of a problem.

Make cuttings from December to March (summer to autumn). The cuttings should be semi-hardwood, 60-100 mm long, and taken from the current season's growth. Dip the cuttings into a rooting hormone solution or hormone powder and plant into a medium of 50% polystyrene and 50% finely milled pine bark. Place in a growing house with bottom heat (25ºC). Once the roots are well developed, remove from bottom heat and harden off for three weeks. Plant the cuttings into small bags and grow on until ready to plant into the garden.

Sow seed in April when the days are warm and the nights start to cool down (late summer to autumn). Dust the seed with a systemic fungicide. Sow on a well-drained medium, firm down and cover with a layer of sand or finely milled bark. Seed can be sown in an open seedbed, or in a seed tray placed in a sunny position. Germination begins after two to three weeks. Once two true leaves have grown, prick the seedlings out into small bags. Place the seedlings in a lightly shaded area with good air circulation. When plants are ± 50-100 mm tall, or after one year's growth, they can be planted into the garden.

Seed can also be sown directly where you want the plants to grow. Plant, cover lightly with soil and water.

The best time to place the young plants in the garden is at the start of the rainy season. This enables plants to establish themselves and send down deep roots before the hot, dry summer season. Leucadendron discolor requires a hot, sunny position with well-drained acidic soil. Add a scoop of welldecomposed compost at planting and water well for the first year.

Once members of the protea family become diseased they are very difficult to treat, and it is better to prevent disease, rather than try to cure it. Make sure your environmental conditions are correct. This includes getting direct sunlight for most of the day, a well-drained soil which does not stay saturated and will not stagnate, and good air circulation ensuring that the above-ground parts of the plant dry quickly after watering. It is also important to ensure that the soil stays cool in the hot months and that roots are not disturbed by digging. A thick layer of mulch or surrounding planting can be used to keep the soil cool and prevent moisture loss. If any of these factors are not correct, the plants become weakened and stressed, and you can be sure to attract some form of pest or disease.