Boophone haemanthoides is a striking plant for a large pot, and also makes a handsome feature planted in bold groups in rock garden pockets. It is important to note that the bulbs are highly sensitive to excess moisture during the winter growing period, and require a completely dry summer period when they are dormant. The plants do not survive for long outdoors when planted in high rainfall areas, such as in the southern suburbs of Cape Town, but do well in the drier northern suburbs. The plants require high light intensity to grow well, preferring full sun for as much of the day as possible. A pot at least 400 mm deep is needed for a mature bulb. When displayed as a pot subject, it performs well when placed on a sunny patio. Grow the bulbs in a sandy, well-drained soil mixture, such as equal parts of washed industrial sand and river sand. Place a thick layer of stone or bark chips at the base of the container to improve drainage, and a layer of well-rotted compost over the chips, and fill up the rest of the container with the sandy mixture. When planting B. haemanthoides bulbs, make sure that at least two thirds of the bulb is above ground level. Water the plant well once in late autumn, and wait for the leaves to appear. Thereafter, provide a good soaking once per month. As soon as the leaves start to turn yellow in late spring, withhold watering and keep the bulbs as dry as possible in summer.

In cultivation, flowering can be very erratic, and the main display feature of these plants lies in their ornamental leaf fans. Individual flowers are short-lived, lasting only a few days, and the flower head lasts no more than 7 days. The subsp. ernesti-ruschii can tolerate moderate frost for short periods, but the subsp. haemanthoides requires protection. Propagation is mainly by seed, as offsets rarely, if ever, form in cultivation. Remove the seeds once they start to rupture the seed capsules, and sow them immediately into deep pots, in a sandy medium, covering the seeds lightly with about 3 mm of the sandy medium, and keep the medium dry for the summer months: the corky layer surrounding the seeds will prevent them from drying out. Some of the seeds may germinate immediately, or germination may be delayed until early autumn, at which time, monthly watering can begin. At the end of the first spring, withhold water and allow the seedlings to go dormant. Growing this species from seed requires extreme patience, as maturity may only be reached upwards of ten years.

Apart from koppie foam grasshoppers which eat the developing flower buds, this species is seldom subject to attack by insects. The leaves are sometimes eaten by the European brown garden snail (Cornu aspersa), which can transmit viral disease. Insufficiently well-drained soil, and watering during the dormant period, inevitably result in rapid fungal rotting of the bulbs.