In climates with cool, wet winters, its deep taproot allows it to grow in winter, bolt in spring, and escape drought during hot, dry summers.

Its roots grow faster and reach greater depths than associated annual grasses, and it has a deeper root system than many associated perennial grasses.

A seedling that establishes in fall or winter overwinters as a basal rosette, then bolts and flowers the following late spring to summer before setting seed and dying.

Most seeds germinate soon after dispersal, but estimates of seed longevity in the persistent seed bank range from about 4 years in California up to about 10 years in Washington.

In one study, seeds reached the pre-dispersal stage about 21 days after flowering, although most seeds developed 8 days after flower initiation. At one site, seeds dispersed in August.

The barbed pappus of plumed seeds may also be carried by humans and animals, and the pappus may aid flotation in moving water. Plumeless seeds remain in seedheads until late fall or winter, and fall below the parent plant.

Maximum wind dispersal of plumed seeds was about 5 m over bare ground with wind gusts of 40 km/hour. Plumed seeds may also be dispersed by humans and animals over potentially long distances, with distances not quantified.

Disturbance creates favorable conditions by increasing bare ground, reducing vegetation, and increasing sunlight to the soil surface.

Plants grown in low-light conditions failed to flower, and the average number of flowers per plant increased with increasing sunlight.

It does not typically occur in areas dominated by shrubs, trees, tall perennial forbs and grasses, or late-season annuals.

It reestablishes mainly from surviving seeds in the soil seed bank and from seeds dispersed from off-site sources. Seedlings are often abundant after fire.

However, a seed heating experiment found that seeds were killed above about 115 to 120 °C.

One study found that yellow starthistle plants in burned plots had more flowerheads the following summer (58 flowerheads/plant) than plants in unburned plots (16 flowerheads/plant). In another study, the difference in seedheads per plant between burned and unburned plots was not statistically significant.

In spring, yellow starthistle is too moist to carry fire. Some studies observed reduced germination rates after fire, but others note increased postfire seedling germination; consecutive annual summer burns can help reduce seed bank density.

However, dried yellow starthistle skeletons degrade slowly, may remain erect for a year, and can provide fuel for late-summer wildfires. Yellow starthistle stands may require grass fuels to carry fire well.

Abundant seedlings often emerge with the first fall rains after fire in California grasslands, and seedling establishment and survival may exceed that on unburned sites.

Prescribed fire at intervals of 2 to 10 years may reduce yellow starthistle and increase native diversity. However, it is unclear how fire regimes of invaded plant communities might affect yellow starthistle populations.

After annual burning ceases, yellow starthistle may reestablish from the few remaining seeds in the soil seed bank or from seeds dispersed from off-site sources. No published information was available on its use to control yellow starthistle in other regions or vegetation types.

Green plants are too moist to carry fire, and dense stands may lack the grass fuels needed to carry fire. However, it is unclear how fire regimes of many invaded plant communities might be affected by yellow starthistle populations.