Patience. If the stems are still green and not looking shriveled and dry then leave them alone. Sometimes a cutting will sit for weeks and look like it is doing nothing when all the while it's growing roots. When it feels it has a sufficient root system to support new top growth it will grow.

If the stems are turning brown or black chances are they're going to die. I've never had one recover to grow once that has started. The ones that put out that early growth probably did so by using energy already stored in the canes. That doesn't mean they have rooted yet but it also doesn't mean they won't. Like I said, if the stems are plump and green there is still a chance that they will root.

The outside ones are behind because of the colder temperatures which slow down their growth. But they will still root and grow and once the temps warm up they will catch up to their indoor siblings who will have to be slowly acclimated to the outside when the time comes. They have the advantage of getting better light than the ones inside anyway.

it sounds like most of them are doing very well no matter what situation they're in so all you have to do is to keep doing what you're doing and leave them alone to do their thing...and be patient!

What Seil said. And don't think about transplanting or potting up until a firm root ball develops. The whole point of using clear cups is that you will be able to see them grow pot bound. That will most likely take a couple of months.

Thanks for the encouragement and reassurance. Its easy to get caught up in the process when I am hoping that they'll get to the business of growing so I know how many I am keeping and how many I am sharing, and of which roses heh.

Are you talking about any part of the cutting getting brown as usually not surviving? (Like the top tips of some are definitely on the way out though most of the length is still green on quite a few of them).

If it's just the tip leave it but keep an eye on it because often times that will begin to travel down the cane. Sometimes if the cane had a bloom at the tip a short section will die back where that bloom was cut off but the rest of the cane will be OK. If there is a brown stripe down one side of the cane it's over. It will eventually all turn black and dry up. If it's at the bottom where the soil line is it's already toast. It's probably rotted below the soil level.

Well I figure I should give an update, mostly because the in-the-moment decision making and the nature of learning what to expect and how to behave and everything else that comes with experience was a useful lesson for me that may benefit others.

So a quick summation.

I have had about a 10% success rate on my first flurry of cuttings using the burrito method. Considering all the places I did things "wrong" as I went along I actually consider it a success. I didn't properly go through my received cuttings to make cuts at budding points so I had tips far away from where the plant would naturally send them, occasional missed watering, over attentive watering, and such were all mistakes along the way.

The decision to stick many of the calloused cuttings in the dirt with still a month or 2 of questionable weather wasn't so dreadful as I originally thought. More plants have started to stir and awake, granted some are just now putting out their first leaves, but point being, that when I stuck them outside it was more of a "may as well see, and pull out dead sticks when weeding later," instead of just tossing them out when I got tired of potting up my mess of cuttings. It did snow a couple times after I planted them outside, and we definitely had some freeze/thaw cycles. More than I was obviously hoping for when I planted them.

I moved some of my leafed out cuttings to the garden. Where 2 promptly died, and 4 are still very slowly growing. The plants are still tiny. The couple I have in the house will be going outside soon. I found a slight spider-mite infestation on one of the few I have indoors so I figure it is time to let natures little bug eaters help me take care of the issue.

I will say that a couple of the plants were much more likely to root than others. Heirloom and Mr. Lincoln putting out 3x more plants than the other successful varieties, and of course some I didn't get any to stick. However, those 2 were among the ones I wanted the most, and now that I have them, I have that intense satisfaction. I actually bought an heirloom from Walmart anyway because it was discounted to $6 and was a gallon plant in good condition, just with spent blooms.

I doubt that I will get any flowers from these tiny little specimen this year. I suspect, that in future, I will opt to purchase my initial plants and then take cuttings from those for gifts, back ups and filling out beds. Thanks everyone so much for the help so far in my rose obsession.