The Pressure-Flow hypothesis is essentially a source and sink hypothesis. Food substances that are in solution flow from a source, which is generally where water is taken up by osmosis (roots; food storage tissues, such as root cortex or rhizomes; and food-producing tissues such as mesophyll in leaves) and the food substances are then given up at a destination or a sink where the food resources will be utilized in growth. The idea is that the organic solutes are moved along concentration gradients existing between sources and sinks.
At the source, phloem-loading occurs and sugars are moved by active transport into the sieve tubes of the smallest veins. The overall water potential in the sieve tube drops and then water enters the phloem cells via osmosis. The resulting turgor pressure from the movement of the water is enough to drive the solution through the sieve network to the sink. The sugar is unloaded at the sink via active transport and water then exits the ends of the sieve tubes. The pressure drops as the water exits, which causes a mass flow from the higher pressure at the source to the now lowered pressure at the sink. Much of the water that exits the sieve tubes will diffuse back into the xylem where it can be recirculated, transpired once it reaches the source. In a nutshell, the mass flow is caused by drops in turgor pressure at the sink as the sugar molecules are removed. This generates the next push of materials toward the sink.