Soaking oil palm seeds in GA at 250 or 500 μg/l, ethephon at 1000 or 2000 μg/l or kinetin at 50 or 1000 μg/l, either alone or in various combinations, did not break their dormancy. However, when soaking was followed by heat treatment at 40°C for 30, 45 or 60 days, germination was enhanced by 500 μg/l GA. Heat treatment for 60 days gave the best results, with 73% germination, compared with 61% germination for water-soaked heat-treated controls. There was no synergistic action when either GA or ethephon was used together with kinetin.