capable of carrying and storing one hundred plant guards 20 when performing a planting operation a plant is introduced into an upper inlet orifice 21 and allowed to fall down through the tube until caught by the cruciform constituted by the hang threads 14 the plant is then pulled down out of the tube so as to entrain therewith the lowermost plant guard 10 which is thus drawn out around the plant as illustrated in fig3 at this stage of the proceedings the plant guard and the plant are together suspended from the harness like loops 18 and when the guard is pulled down still further while holding the next plant guard 23 in line stationary the closure thread 17 will draw the upper end 16 of the net structure together until it is fully gathered over or around the enclosed plant the closure threads 17 comprises a material which is stronger in tension than the thread used in the bottom end 15 of the guard and hence the loops 18 will tear off the elastomeric threads extending therethrough at the bottom end of the guard the tightened upper end of the guard becomes self locking since the crimped polyamide thread is self contracting when the load on the loops is removed and since the threads knitted in the final row 24 comprise a covered elastomeric thread which is self locking in itself the last row cannot be further unravelled despite the fact that one thread has been drawn out during this sequence of events the next guard 23 in line has been drawn down to an extent such that its hang threads 14 now cross the exit orifice 22 thereby enabling the next plant to be fitted with a corresponding plant guard.