What went wrong? (First grow)

So this is my first time growing and my plant has barely grown and all it's leaves have fallen off. The only ones that look healthy are the ones at the top. It's grown about 11 inches in 3 months. Surprisingly the plant survived and it's growing 1 TINY bud. I want my plants to thrive next year. What should I do differently? Thanks for the help!

that soil looks pretty muddy/mucky.. notice nothing else looks to be growing much better in that pic?
find a better spot, or get some better soil there is my advice.

Maybe wrong time of year?idk
soil doesn't look good to me , it looks to solid and baked?idk
too packed for the roots to grow?

I ripped everything out of the hillside so that my plant wouldn't be fighting for sun and water. I dug a hole and filled it with black gold soil. Idk what went wrong. I think it got the proper amount of sun and water.

What went wrong? You can't get green gold with black gold. Just kidd'in..did you get the black gold potting mix or the organic. The organic in MY experience is too muddy when it gets wet. You need a light mix for your roots to breath. Dig 3ft wide and 3ft deep would do the trick. Fill it up with good soil an your golden. If you done all...maybe it was a bad spot? Just my opinion.

amend the area with peat just mix it in
and dig a big hole when you mix the peat in big roots help grow a big plant
if it was me i would dig a 5 gal bucket or maybe 2 out and then mix the soil back 50/50 with just plain peat BUT you will have to feed it in veg and flower probably
personally i use the same fert i do in my garden just plain jane 8-8-8 granules a few handfuls mixed in some lime and run with it and feed according to how the plant is acting

First mistake was growing medium. You can have all the sun and nutrients in the world, but if your plant doesn't have proper soil free of roots rocks etc it won't grow....as well. It sucks to pay for soil but you don't have to. Like tekdc911 said peat is a great alternative to loosing up and adding more air mixture to your soil especially if it's thick or has clay. You can add perlite for better water flow. The best thing in my eyes of your going to be growing there for years is invest 10-50$ in getting a good medium to grow in and if you have winters put your garden to bed for the winter that is most important. You can also use buckets or an elevated garden with 2x6's it's all up to you. Happy smoking

Thank you so much for the help. So next season don't use soil? And if I do, mix it with another medium. Say I were to use peat moss or Coco Coir, would I treat it just like soil? Or would I have to add harsh and/or expensive nutrients frequently? This season I added nothing and used well water to water it. Maybe next year I'll use some bone meal. Is there anything I should do now to prepare the spot for the harsh New England winter?

MJ is a weed - it grows just about anywhere - I use to grow outdoors for 10+ years - even grown in swamps, rubbish tips, river beds, high altitudes, shit - even right next to the sea where the plant was sprayed with sea salt. They are a weed = grow any where.

Pick your lip up and chuck another in - just bad luck.

Like said above it's a weed it tends to grow in a variety of setups indoors or out. You can simply dig a hole and plant, hope for the best. You can also invest a bit of time by clearing out that hole free of debris that will interfere with root growth on your small plant. You don't need to spend money on soil but it can help speed up growth and overall harvest. Once you do have a designated area, and do what was said above I would 100% put your area to bed for the winter if you have harsh winters like up here in canada. It helps you in the spring all you have to do is turn it over and start again. Even small veggie gardens are put to bed. It can consist of hay or mulch covered by a tarp or just a tarp works perfectly fine make sure you peg it into the ground and there isn't a gaping hole that will cause your tarp to sag once snow or water gets on it. All the best, clearing out branches in late fall/winter is optimal for natural lighting come spring. Happy smoking