The effect of cutting on water balance of alfalfa plants MARTHA LAZARIDOU1* and VASSILIOS NOITSAKIS2 1 Department of Forestry, Technological Education Institute of Kavala, Branch of Drama, 661 00 Drama, Greece 2 Department of Range Science, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, 541 24, Greece Abstract Plants of alfalfa were grown in the field under different water and harvesting regimes (well watered and rainfed, harvested and non-harvested) in order to evaluate cutting effects on stems’ internal water status. Stem water potential, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance were measured and specific hydraulic conductance was calculated. Plants that had been harvested maintained higher stem water potential than non-harvested plants. This occurred in spite of the higher transpirational water loss, which was the consequence of high stomatal conductance and higher specific conductance. Plants with high water loss compensated by higher water uptake as plant resistance to water uptake was reduced. Cutting resulted in altered plant internal water status.   < back .