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The high temperature severely reduces seed germination, emergence, and seedling uniformity in celery (Apium graveolens L.). Celery seeds were primed via solid matrix priming (SMP) using water or 1% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) solution at 1, 2, 3 or 4 ml rate for 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 days. Moisture content of the seeds was calculated for each priming treatment and time interval. After priming, the seeds were dried back to the original dry weight. The germination percentage was calculated for each treatment at two different temperatures (15 and 30C). The seed primed with NaOCl gained significantly less moisture during priming than the water treatment. Seeds primed with NaOCl had significantly greater germination at both 15 and 30C, compared to seeds primed with water. The germination percentage of non-primed seeds was 83% and 2% at 15C and 30C, respectively. The final germination percentage at 30C was increase to 85% when the seeds were primed with 3 ml of NaOCl for 14 days. The combination of SMP with NaOCl significantly reduced the negative effect of high temperature on celery seed germination.