The study looked at how much rain is caught by maize plants at different stages of growth and under different rainfall intensities. They used a rainfall simulator to measure how much rain was intercepted by the plant canopy, how much passed through to the ground (throughfall), and how much flowed down the stems (stemflow). They found that the amount of rain caught by the plants varied depending on the growth stage and rainfall intensity. Overall, more rain was intercepted by the canopy and less reached the ground when it rained harder. The size of the plant's leaves also affected how much rain was caught, with more leaves leading to more interception and stemflow but less throughfall.