LONDON (Reuters) - Britain, renowned for decades as a nation of animal lovers, was revealed on Friday as a country where thousands of people also communicate with plants. A poll showed that a sixth of Britons hum, sing or talk to their houseplants as they tend to them. The findings will give comfort to the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, who was ridiculed after a TV documentary in which he admitted he encouraged plants to grow by chatting to them. The poll, for the Baby Bio fertiliser firm, showed that 16 percent of Britons communicate with plants, with the figure rising to 24 percent among the widowed, divorced and separated. Gardening experts say talking to plants really can help them, since exhaled breath contains a high proportion of growth-promoting carbon dioxide.