Factors that control translocation

a) Light and Darkness:

• Light favors greater movement of organic solutes towards the shoot apex and darkness favors the opposite.
• Interestingly, most of the glucose synthesized by leaves during the day is stored as starch, and the same is converted into sucrose at night and transported out of the leaves.

b) Temperature:

• If the temperature is increased, the rate of translocation also increases. However, very high temperature is fatal.

c) Effect of Phytohormones: Growth-promoting hormones like indole acetic acid, Gibberellins, and cytokinin are found to accelerate the rate of translocation.

d) Effect of minerals:

• Boron has been found to facilitate the movement of sucrose.
• The absence of boron reduces the rate of translocation significantly.

e) Effect of Concentration Gradient:

• The steeper the gradient, the greater the rate of translocation, and vice versa