Lot of 5 Scarlet Curly Willow cuttings - Salix matsudana x S. alba 'Scarlet Curls' - 7 to 9 inches

I bought 3 bunches of different willow cuttings as I wanted to try to bonsai them. All arrived wrapped in a thick roll of thoroughly soaked paper towels. As well as following the directions for soaking and planting, I pealed away the bottom 2" of bark and sealed the top with cut paste - probably unnecessary, but it didn't hurt. In any case, I planted all 15 cuttings in an 8" pot, soaked and drained every day, and within 15-20 days, all 15 of my cuttings had shoots on them and they continue to flourish some 8 weeks later.

Not one rooted! I followed the accompanying instructions and no rootlets. So I soaked another couple of days before planting and watering. After 3 weeks of NOTHING showing on any of them, I pulled them up and there weren't any roots on any of them. These are willows, right? They're supposed to be the easiest plant to root. All I have is 5 curly sticks.

I was able to get 2 to grow after soaking the first try. I put the 3 remaining covered for 3 more days. 2 sprouted so I will use the remaining to make rooting Willow water (at the temp used for brewing green tea).