Oldenburgia paradoxa is grown from seed that has been treated with smoke or smoke extract.

The seeds are then sown into a well-drained, acidic, potting mixture and lightly covered. Place seed in trays, plugs or individual pots and keep in a well-ventilated, warm, sunny position where the seeds are protected from rain. Sowing directly into plugs or pots minimizes root disturbance and maximizes the number of surviving seedlings. Do not over water and allow the medium to dry out a little between watering. The seeds should germinate within two months.

It is good practice to protect the seeds from rotting by treating them with a pre-emergence fungicide for preventing damping off. These fungicides are available at your local nursery. The seedlings should be carefully potted at cotyledon stage before the first pair of true leaves develop, as this species does not react well to disturbance. Choose the smallest pots or grow-plugs available and well-drained, acidic soil to mimic the natural crevice habitat to which it is adapted. A mixture of equal parts of well-rotted pine bark or fine compost and coarse river sand is recommended. The small plants should be fed every week or second week with an organic liquid fertiliser. The seedlings are slow growing and should be kept in the smallest possible container and only re-potted when it becomes root-bound and difficult to water.

Oldenburgia paradoxa form such a tight cushion that selection of cuttings is not recommended. They might root, however, removal of cuttings will destroy the aesthetic form of the plant. Plants in pots at Kirstenbosch have been divided and survive as long as some root is retained on each section.

Oldenburgia paradoxa is a recommended as a pot plant as a special collectors specimen. It is slow growing and long lived.