Without seeing them it's hard to say what happened, but if I understand correctly they had started to root in water and were then planted in pots? What did you do to keep the air humid around them until there were enough roots to supply all the moisture? It can be tricky sometimes to transition plants from rooting in water to growing in potting mix. After planting I would have kept the cuttings and their pot enclosed in a large plastic bag (that didn't touch the leaves) until I was sure they had established. They'd need to be kept out of direct sun for a while too.
