I'm in the subtropics so in summer our days don't get that much longer. I've a feeling that's why I don't get a lot of fruit that first year. The positive side is that i don't get frosts, so they just go dormant in winter.

I usually just use white vingar, salt & a few cloves if garlic to pickle them. The pickled jalepeno slices I've bought in the last fews years have a strange chemical taste to them. It's probably just some preservative but I really don't like it. Mexican food without jalapeño slices, just doesn't cut it. 

 Right on! keep it simple -- I like it!