Willow from cutting - Question

[Flowerhouse]

First a short progression, then a question.

I started with a cutting from a branch that blew down in July 2021.

This is what it looked like in June 2022. I started removing some of the dead wood.

Today, growing well. The pot is already filled with fine roots. It sits in a saucer that I fill with water twice each day, uses all that water and also gets surface watered.
The bark on the remaining cutting is blistered, some of it is dead and peeling away from the dead wood underneath, but some of it must be living to support the two upper branches. I peel away bark that has turned loose on its own, but am hesitant to peel back to living tissue because of the endemic canker this guy has.

Here's my question: If I just let this guy grow, will I be able to eventually see where the living cambium begins and ends? Any way to hasten that process along? What would you do here (unless your answer is "throw it on the compost heap.")?
One last pic: This is a branch of similar size on the parent tree where it is healing over a wound.

 

[Mikecheck123]

Willows pick winners and losers with their branches. You need to prune off the root suckers at the base of the trunk if you want the interesting part to have a chance.

Otherwise it'll die back over the winter all the way to the ground in favor of those suckers.

Other than that, don't touch it. Don't give it a reason to make that branch a loser.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Willows pick winners and losers with their branches. You need to prune off the root suckers at the base of the trunk if you want the interesting part to have a chance.

Otherwise it'll die back over the winter all the way to the ground in favor of those suckers.

Other than that, don't touch it. Don't give it a reason to make that branch a loser.

I've been pinching out the new little suckers as they appear, but the 3 biggies have to go too? I'll take them out then. Thanks!

 

[Flowerhouse]

Time for an update. I pruned out the 3 large suckers as suggested. Right after I did that the base of one of the upper sprouts turned dark and the branch died quickly. Down to one branch, this is what it looks like today.

I have removed more of the dead wood. At the top of the wound, the living branch is wider than the dead stub. I plan to remove dead wood to the point where it gets covered by the living tree. The tree is currently 5 feet tall. To keep it from getting dumped every time the wind blows I shortened every branch, leaving the leader long. The base is curvy, and I think branch selection could enhance that further. I don't know yet if I can get leaf reduction.

This year I have pulled off suckers as they appear. The pot is full of fine roots. A big windstorm earlier this week brought down another good size branch, so I'm trying another

 

[Flowerhouse]

Time for an update. Willow is currently 5 feet tall, had to move from a saucer to a dish pan this spring to provide adequate water. I'm ready to chop.


If I cut at the red line, the two remaining branches each have a bud an inch away from the trunk.


If I change the planting angle to make the stub of the the branch to the right (once chopped) move above horizontal, I think that will help the tree smooth out this angle.