The effect of timing of various rest breaking agents (RBAs) on vegetative and floral budburst, and production efficiency was investigated on 4-year-old 'Bing' sweet cherry trees on 'Gisela ® 5' rootstock. Two experiments were conducted, near Clarens (28°28'S; 28°19'E, 1860 m.a.s.l) and Reitz (28°0'S; 28°28'E; 1717 m.a. Compared to the control, RBAs were most effective at improving vegetative budburst during both seasons while results of floral budburst and production efficiency varied between seasons indicating that time of RBA application should be based on chilling accumulation and bud development stage and not only calendar date. The time of application of RBAs had the most significant influence on budburst and production efficiency. No interaction was observed between time and treatment.

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