“I know that pencil sized wood is recommended, but will smaller sized scions (1/4 ") survive storage or is that unlikely.”

Smaller scions do “survive” in cold storage, when treated as ‘equals.’ Sealed and held in a refrigerator just above freezing they appear to do as well as larger pieces.

The problem is their difficulty in grafting. Their delicate and diminutive structure leave them prone to damage when connecting to most rootstock. Connecting them to “pencil sized” rootstock, I’ll often make a two-scion cleft graft – not as preferred a connection as the whip & tongue graft, though it works…

Grafting at the annual HOS “Scion Exchange” I’ve come to expect a day of such micro-surgery... Where as you can nearly ‘feel your way’ through an equal sized scion & stock whip & tongue graft, making sure cambial contact is maintained with the smaller scions if more difficult.

But doing your best to preserve a very old tree by ‘creating a new one,’ where the only viable scions are at the tip-top, and tiny – you do what you must. Just remember to take them when they’ve hardened off, around the end of November through February. Attempting to store a scion cut ‘today,’ no matter the size, would be a gamble. They’ve only a certain amount of refrigerated storage life -- so don’t store it too soon <!-- s --><img decoding="async" src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s -->