First time grower, issues with LST

Hey everyone! First time grower here.

first and foremost, my plants are growing extremely slowly, and I think that’s an issue with light intensity. So, I definitely know I need to invest in a more intense light. My question here is that I have been doing LST, and I have been reading and watching videos on how it can increase the # of colas that form because the branches get exposed to more light. The problem is that my plants haven’t really been forming new colas at all, even though you can see new growth between the nodes. Do I need to change something? Am I doomed? Anyone else have this same experience?

and yes, I know my plants are a little leggy, I was able to stop that issue but obviously I can’t reverse it.

This first grow is certainly a learning experience and I could use some constructive criticism

Your doing fine id say you have reached the maximum return from that light in the pictures...i also have one like that but i dont use it for my cannabis i understand that we cant all buy the best equipment but our bud will only be as good as our tools and imo light is the biggest factor in yeild and quality

Yeah it’s a cheap light from Amazon I got a while back for my other plants. I’ve been trying to move them into direct sunlight during day hours just so they get a nice boost of high intensity light for a few hours, then back under the lamp when it gets dark outside. I’m willing to invest about $100 on a better full spectrum light in the near future, but that’ll take at least another 2 paychecks. I’m placing really low expectations on my first time growing because I know it’s a big learning experience. Your reassurance def helped