Signs Your Plants Need Water - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. One of the tell-tale signs of under-watering a plant is generally a drooping leaf. A leaf that is overhanging the pot like this would be a great example of a plant telling you it needs some water. So, in this particular case the African violet is a plant that does not like to get water on its leaves, unless it is a tepid water, or like a warmish water. We always recommend that people water this plant from below, and let it sit in some water and let it suck the water up. In about a day you will see a big difference in this plant, just from one drink. Here is another example of an outdoor shrub that got under-watered. And one of the problems with evergreen plants when they are under-watered is they turn brown or they turn beige, and this is sometimes not correctable. Once it turns brown and beige it may mean that it died, and it may not come back. So it is very important with your ornamental shrubs, shrubs that you like to prune, to keep them watered regularly. Otherwise you will have a plant like this.