Seed should be stored for 9 months before use. In the nursery: Seed germinates best at temperatures between 25ºC to 35ºC, in a moist seed tray. Expect germination within 3-5 days, with germination continuing for 2-3 weeks. Seedlings grow well over spring and summer, but poorly over winter. If seedlings aren't big enough by winter they may die. Therefore December germination is recommended. Plants will be ready for planting from March-April the next year.

Direct sowing: Keith McDougall pioneered this field in Victoria. Very roughly, his recommendations include:

• Collect the seed when it is as ripe as possible but before the bulk of it has fallen (roughly around Christmas time in Melbourne). Collect it by harvesting the thatch (using a sickle bar mower or whipper snipper, or specially designed harvester), and loosely baling it in wool bales.
• Spread the thatch in Spring on preferably bare earth
• Remove the thatch (from which the seed should have burrowed its way into the soil) by raking or burning in early Summer

Victoria University of Technology has subsequently been involved in further research to refine the technique. Alistair Phillips and Bram Mason have published work which refines McDougall's technique.

For collecting seed for nurseries, flowering stalks can be cut and placed in large paper bags and stored in a dry cool spot for number of weeks. The seeds which have dropped to the bottom of the bag can be sown in December of the next year. If storage space in an issue, ripe flower heads can be bashed against the edge of a bucket. The seeds which drop are ripe and can be sown in December of the next year. This method is much more tedious than storing the entire flowering stalk for a few weeks.