Trellis advice for small vineyard

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tikitaki12

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I'm about to plant a small backyard vineyard with Grenache, Syrah, and Tempranillo. Ten total vines in two 20' rows, so 4' spacing between the vines. I'm hoping for recommendations on the trellis system, both for stability and to maximize yield.
  1. I was planning on doing a VSP trellis, but I'm open to other suggestions if there's a better alternative.
  2. I've often seen 20+ feet recommended between line posts. Does that mean I don't need any line posts?
  3. Can I get away with 8' end posts sunk 2' into the ground without any anchors? Alternatively, is there a good design that braces interior to the end posts?
Any other tips would be welcome! Thanks all!
 
#3 two foot is shallow. The guideline for fence posts is 1/3 under ground. My current setup has mostly 8’ steel posts at each plant with 3’ below ground. I could get away without end posts. Twenty feet isn’t that big.
 
I have installed 8' wooden posts 2.5' in the ground and that includes eye anchors that screw into the ground. You might need concrete if you do not use anchors. The rows were around 20' long each. It depends on how stiff is your soil. 3 feet deep would be the gold standard
 
I have 8 foot cedar round poles in the ground 2 feet, canted out away from the row, with a mix of small rocks and dirt tamped firm all around. This has held up for 15 years just fine. A few that I had put up early on were NOT leaning/canted out and they did 'pull in ' and needed to be re-set. I only have rows 30 feet long, with two t-posts set in the row ( equal 10 foot spaced ) to take some of the fruit wire/lower wire strain. The very top wire is snug, but I don't make them fiddle-string tight. If you do that, you WILL pull posts.
i thought about using post anchors on the end, but found that leaning the posts out took care of that. No anchors needed.
 
I have 8 foot cedar round poles in the ground 2 feet, canted out away from the row, with a mix of small rocks and dirt tamped firm all around. This has held up for 15 years just fine. A few that I had put up early on were NOT leaning/canted out and they did 'pull in ' and needed to be re-set. I only have rows 30 feet long, with two t-posts set in the row ( equal 10 foot spaced ) to take some of the fruit wire/lower wire strain. The very top wire is snug, but I don't make them fiddle-string tight. If you do that, you WILL pull posts.
i thought about using post anchors on the end, but found that leaning the posts out took care of that. No anchors needed.
I agree about over tightening the wire. I used a come along to tighten my top wire and ended having to reset my end posts as they all popped up and out.
 

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