Hello I'm a month into propagating a rose I have 3 cuttings. Can anyone tell me if the first pic is roots or what? and why are the other 2 stems black and growing fungus on top?

I'm new to this whole thing but shouldn't that be in dirt?

Ive seen tutorials on youtube where you can root stems in water but also like you said seen people do it in dirt as well.

Rooting stems in water rarely works because the roots that grow in water are so fragile that they're almost certain to be damaged when they're transplanted into soil.

I'm not sure that your top picture shows any roots growing, but I am sure that the other two cuttings are dying.

So the best way to root is just planting directly into dirt. If the two are dying is there anyway to save them? and will I be able to still propagate the first one into dirt?

How much will you have left after you cut off the dead portions? You could try growing them in soil by cutting down to healthy green stem at the top, applying a little root hormone to the bottom of the cuttings, stripping off the leaves, and burying the cuttings far enough down so that the nodes from which the leaves originally emerged are underground. Even if you only have an inch or two left above the ground, they might have a chance of surviving by forming roots at those leaf nodes.

I think i will take your advise zuzu lets see what will happen.