Calin, Look----you have to be both brave and confident when it comes making decisions with lilies. Those little bublets will most often forgive you if you're not quite right in whatever you do. Those tiny little bublets, small as they are, have a unbelievable amount of stamina packed in them and will tolerate more abuse than most can imagine. I do crude exploratories very often with seeds, seed sprouts, seedlings and scales for any one of a hundred reasons--even if it's only to check progress or take a picture just for fun.. So disturbing them a little isn't going to hurt them one bit. Just be careful not to dislodge the bulblet away from the mother scale. When you dig them out you'll most likely find one or two long roots and a bunch of small, tiny roots at the base of the bublet. And if you break some off in the process, don't fret--it won't hurt a thing. We all try not to, of course, but if it happens, it's not a big deal.
Now, we all like to practice perfection, sterile conditions and all that--and we do at our initial starting point with scaling. But your case is two months into a procedure; so, let's step out of line for a moment and and do a little backyard botany. Just take a large kitchen fork and dig the ones with bublets out. Whatever media falls off that's great, if some clings, that's ok too. Cut away as much black, soft area of old scale if you see any. We'll forget about being sterile for this one particular instance. Place those with bulblets in a seperate bag and media with tweezers (a couple handfulls in a quart bag, little more if you use gallon size) Lay them in horizontally. Then spoon in enough media to cover this side. Then, using two pieces of thin chipboard cut from a cereal box, gently slide one piece under the bag, place the other piece on top of the bag and with both hands gently flip the bag and continue adding mix until all are well covered. The chipboard stays with the bag now wherever it goes and you'll see how usefull it will become down the road.
The rest of your scales don't appear to hold much promise--but you never know and there's only one way to find out---dig 'em up! If you find some bublets, great! Start a second bag. If some scales don't have bublets but are still solid, start another bag.
Now, the media mix I use is about 70% milled moss and 30% sand that I have lightly dampened--I emphasize lightly. Some people use vermiculite, some use perlite; it's a matter of personal choice and what works for them. I just find that moss gives me such nice, even distribution of dampness that I stick with it and if there is a little to much moisture it will show up quicker as condensation inside the bag.
Then, lay your sealed, bagged scales in a very dark, warm place--about 70'F, give or take a couple degrees and check daily for two days for condensation. If there is, open the bag for a couple hours, reseal and check the next day. Keep them dark; you don't want any green to start. Placing a light weight matt over them is a good idea. Then, in your case, I'd let them nurse off the old scale for another 3 or 4 weeks before chilling a few weeks. The old scale should resemble an old dried up walnut meat when it's all said and done--should, I say, but not always. Sometimes, it will be just 'gone', sometimes the old scale will be still solid, but most time it's just dried up, depleted.
Try to plan your program/schedule with these so they are ready to transplant in late May, early June at the latest. You see, another reason you don't want cover and grow these bublets now is that they inheiret the same season cycle--the last one the old mother bulb experienced and need to be kept on course with that. If they grow now they would (want to) go dormant in summer, but they can't--it's too hot and there's too much moisture (rain). They will rot instead!!
Now, in regards to placing your whole pots and all in a big plastic bag at this point, moisture contol would be the main concern; you might be just building a big incubator for molds judging by the appearance of some of you scales. If you do decide to go this way, cover the whole scale--you just might get a few more bublets. Whatever you decide, we always learn something from each experience, for better or worse. That's how I got brave and confidant on my decision making with lily growing.
