Makovaya Rosinka (Poppy Dew) Tomato Review & Photos

Makovaya Rosinka (Poppy Dew) – cherry tomatoes, round, sweet, great for fresh eating, salads, and canning. Kids absolutely love them.

Plant height is about 16 inches (40 cm), sprawling habit, requires zero pruning (you can see the child’s chair in the photo for scale).

You can plant them solo or underplanted at the feet of your tall indeterminate vines.
Takes 3 months from seed to the first ripe fruit. As a seedling, it looks totally different from others: short, stocky, and thick-stemmed.

It perfectly fills that early-season gap when your main crop isn’t ready yet, but Makovaya Rosinka is already red and ready to snack on.
Produces right up to the bitter end, usually the very last plant I pull out of the greenhouse.

Pickling Makovaya Rosinka with garlic.

This is our family heirloom. Its history goes back to Chinese exiles who lived in the Reshoty settlement here in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The Chinese growers were amazing gardeners, their tomatoes were huge! Out of all that splendor, this is the only variety that survived. It didn’t have a name, so our friends just called it Makovaya Rosinka (Poppy Dew).

You sow it just like the rest – first half of March. Sprouts normally, but you can spot it immediately in the seedling tray: short, sturdy, and thick. You can plant it in the greenhouse with everything else, either at the feet of tall vines or on its own. Grown solo, it stays shorter and bushier. Grown under taller plants, it stretches up a bit. Does fantastic outdoors in the dirt too.
Short little bush, about 16 inches (40 cm), spreading. No need to pinch suckers. Fruits are small and abundant. Ripens fast, always the very first one.

This year (2020) we ate the first tomatoes on June 12th. Great fresh and in jars. The kids devour them.
The variety is over 50 years old. I grow it every single year, and my aunt grew it every year before me. Last one to get ripped out of the greenhouse.

Sowed Makovaya Rosinka on Feb 7th, and by May 7th I was already picking the first ripe tomatoes. Treated my family to the first harvest on Victory Day (the first ones are always the best tasting). At first, the bush grew in a pot on the windowsill. By June, realizing this variety had serious potential, I transplanted it out into the open garden. It handled the transplant shock flawlessly and kept fruiting right up until I pulled it.

Since I only had one plant, I actually rooted a flowering sucker. It didn’t even drop its blossoms and was fruiting in a pot by June. Awesome family heirloom, Olga! 🎩

Edited November 19, 2022 by Khrizantema57

The original owner herself gifted me these seeds. Olya, thank you! 🙏

The bush isn’t tall, very sturdy. Grew it in 2.6 gal (10 L) pots outside, and underplanted at the feet of my indets in the greenhouse. It definitely preferred being outside. Flowered and set fruit non-stop. Little tomatoes, very sweet.

Edited November 20, 2022 by olyaka

Olga! Thanks again for this gorgeous and tasty little tomato! Stayed short, produced from February all the way to fall. Started on the windowsill indoors, then moved it out to the greenhouse.

My Makovaya Rosinka also came straight from the source 🙏 A tiny, low-maintenance, bright, sweet, hard-working early miracle. It was my very first red berry of the year.
I grew it in a pot on the windowsill, underplanted at the feet of tall vines in the greenhouse, and even threw one in a flower bed where this little crumb held its own among the flowers. We happily snacked right off the bush until the first frost. Only thing to note: you gotta pick them on time. The overripe ones will crack, but that was my own fault for not picking them often enough.

Edited November 22, 2022 by tannychonsik

Grew mine in a bucket, very productive. It actually out-yielded my June (Iyunskiy) variety in the bucket test. Yes, it cracked, but that’s most likely because buckets dry out super fast and then I’d soak it 24 hours later.

Sweet little berries. Sowed some for winter 2 weeks ago, we’ll see which holiday we get fresh tomatoes for.

Edited November 22, 2022 by OlyaSashina

This is one of those amazing varieties that brings you joy year-round. It’s a cherry-det, a tree-type micro-dwarf. You can grow it all year. Put it in a pot on the windowsill and it gives you nice green foliage in winter and red berries for the holidays.

Olga, the creator of this little baby, shared the seeds with me. Grew it for the first time this year. Put a couple bushes right out in the dirt. Tucked a couple more at the feet of my tall greenhouse plants. It did great everywhere. I completely neglected and abandoned my outdoor tomatoes this year, they just grew however they wanted. But this one powered through. When I finally got around to weeding them in late summer, Makovaya Rosinka was loaded top to bottom with red beads. Yeah, a few had cracked. But you gotta pick them on time :))

Sowed it again for indoor pot growing just this past Friday at my husband’s request. Can’t wait for it to make us happy again.

I’ll chime in too, though I forgot to take pictures 🤷‍♀️ Sowed early March, grew in grow bags outside. I couldn’t pick them fast enough so a few cracked. Next year I’ll try underplanting it beneath my indets or just stick it somewhere out in the open, it’s such a tiny baby it barely takes up any space. Ate them right off the bush as I walked by, really tasty 😋

My Makovaya Rosinka came from Olga too, and then Tatyana sent me even more. Anyway, I sowed the first 3 seeds for the windowsill on Dec 1st. Used grow lights for a couple of weeks, then it just grew on its own like an absolute workhorse. By March 8th, I was eating my first delicious tomatoes – you can’t even compare them to store-bought, just sad I didn’t have more.

Those 3 bushes stayed on my balcony permanently. Survived the crazy heatwave, and I have a sunny-side balcony too. Naturally, I forgot to water them constantly, but it kept growing and pushing out new fruit on new suckers. I could have left it going into the winter, but decided not to torture it and will just sow fresh ones on Nov 30th.

In the greenhouse, I tucked them at the feet of my indets, and it fruited earlier than almost anything else. Only issue is it cracked for me too, but that’s my sandy soil’s fault. It goes from bone dry to a swamp. Olga, thank you so much for spreading this sweet little beauty to the masses 🙏.

Olga gifted me these seeds too, thank you! 🙌 😘 !!!

Everyone absolutely loved this little tomato 😋. My Makovaya Rosinka grew in a 2.6 gal (10 L) pot outside, looking all fluffy, decorated with green and red little tomatoes. From early spring to late fall, the grandkids were constantly running by and pinching off the sweet little tomatoes. They complained that I didn’t plant enough of them, gave me strict orders to sow more of them earlier next year.

Edited November 23, 2022 by natusya64

Makovaya Rosinka (Poppy Dew) is such a sweet name! Tatyana shared the seeds with me, which she got from Olga.

I usually hate tiny cherry tomatoes 😳, but I sowed it because I loved the name and the history… Planted two seedlings in a 1.3 gal (5 L) pot. Put it out in the garden just as a decoration on a flowerbed – and it set a massive pile of fruit!!! I was so shocked when I tasted a ripe one–it’s like sweet candy!!!!! 😋 I was snacking on it all summer right up until the frost!!!!

Just learned the history behind the variety recently–mad respect to Olga, that is so touching!!!! 🎩 🎩 🎩

No, that’s not correct.

I have never, ever written that this variety is from China. It was Nelya Lanya and her husband who decided to market our tomato that way on their website. They just felt like it. Apparently, writing that it was our family heirloom wasn’t good enough for them. And then that fake story spread all over the internet.

So, thanks a lot, Nelya. You’ll completely make things up just to sell seeds.

Let me clarify Makovaya Rosinka’s history again.

After the war (1941-1945), Chinese exiles were sent to our Siberian settlement. This was the 1940s. The Chinese did not bring seeds with them in their suitcases or pockets; they didn’t even know what their fate would be and were just praying to stay alive. First they lived in a camp, then in an open settlement with restrictions on leaving the village. Youth takes its course, they met local girls, courted them, and got married. The Chinese grooms were hard-working, didn’t drink, and Russian families didn’t shun them.

The married Chinese men took up what they knew best; gardening. They grew and sold seedlings and vegetables, and their Russian wives sold these massive, delicious tomatoes at the market. Meanwhile, the locals were growing tiny, sour tomatoes.

Where did they get the varieties? Who knows now. But definitely not from China. After Stalin’s death, relations with China cooled, and even after the Damansky island conflict, extra police had to come to the settlement on Victory Day to protect the Chinese from overzealous hooligans.

My aunt strongly recommended this variety to me. She was terrified it would be lost to history. She always bought seedlings from them, and when she retired and had plenty of time, she started growing it herself from the seeds she saved from the Chinese growers.

So Makovaya Rosinka, like many other wonderful lost varieties, was a Russian seed that the diligent Chinese simply grew exceptionally well every year.

Once again, the Chinese exiles only *grew* the seeds. They did not bring them from China.

I will be adding this message to the official Variety Catalog as well.

Just read that and now I desperately want this tomato. 😘

They are selling seeds for this variety on Wildberries and Ozon from a brand called Elay Garden. Does anyone know if their seeds are legit? (If that’s someone from the forum, I don’t know, I just really want to try this variety.)

Sowed this in November. Used grow lights. Already has little fruits on it, haven’t taste-tested yet. But everyone here keeps saying to underplant it at the feet of your tall vines… Mine turned into huge 3.3-foot (1 m) monsters. So much for being a “tiny baby” 🤷‍♀️

My Makovaya Rosinka, sowed on March 12th. Today is exactly one month since emergence. The baby is about 8 inches (20 cm) tall and all 5 of them already have flower buds.

HUGE thanks to Galina for the seeds 😘

Makovaya Rosinka out on the balcony. My granddaughter devours everything as soon as it ripens. I’m genuinely worried I won’t have any left to save for seeds. It’s just so sweet. I usually hate tiny cherries, but I respect MR for the flavor!!!!! Tatyana, Olya 🎩

Edited April 27, 2023 by Lyudmila D.

Quote from Lyudmila D.:
I’m genuinely worried I won’t have any left to save for seeds.

Let the girl eat! I’ll mail you more seeds)

Quote from Vorona:
Let the girl eat! I’ll mail you more seeds)

😏 Hoping I can stash at least one away, but if push comes to shove….

Quote from Lyudmila D.:
Makovaya Rosinka out on the balcony. My granddaughter devours everything as soon as it ripens. I’m genuinely worried I won’t have any left to save for seeds. It’s just so sweet. I usually hate tiny cherries, but I respect MR for the flavor!!!!! Tatyana, Olya 🎩

To me, they tasted a bit sweet but on the bland side. My husband loved both Makovaya and yellow Funnyplums – says they’re perfectly sweet and sour. He just wishes they were bigger 😁. I sowed them either late Feb or early March, I’ve already lost track of who I sowed when!

Quote from Ninulia:
To me, they tasted a bit sweet but on the bland side. My husband loved both Makovaya and yellow Funnyplums – says they’re perfectly sweet and sour. He just wishes they were bigger 😁. I sowed them either late Feb or early March, I’ve already lost track of who I sowed when!

That’s probably exactly why my granddaughter loved the sweetness. She absolutely refuses to eat the sour ones from the grocery store.

I’ll share my review of Makovaya Rosinka too. Olya shared the seeds with me. Sowed them in early March, planted out in the greenhouse mid-April during a warm spell along with the rest of my tomatoes. When the late frosts hit, a bunch of my plants froze. Makovaya Rosinka took it like a champ and was the first to yield. At first, the fruits were the size of large currants, but now in July they are proper cherry size. Flavor-wise, it’s a sweet, fruity candy 😋

Thank you, dear Olya, for the seeds.

Edited July 17, 2023 by Polosatik

Makovaya Rosinka is saving the day for us again this year. While all the other tomatoes are still hanging green, Rosinka is making us happy with delicious little tomatoes!

Olya, thanks again 🙌 for this wonderful little tomato!!!

Wow, wow, wow! Makovaya Rosinka is smart and beautiful. Everyone here loves it.

I honestly don’t remember who gave it to me, got it at the Moscow meetup in March 2023.
Olya and everyone else involved – thank you 🎩

Makovaya Rosinka.

And now I, I finally have it too 😁 Seeds from Khrizantema57 🙏

As a huge fan of container varieties, I give it an A+ 👍 Height is around 16 inches (40 cm), and the fruits are slightly larger than traditional container varieties like Red Riding Hood, etc. (those usually stay around 12 inches / 30 cm).

Sweet, early, long production window. I harvested almost the entire crop a while ago, and it just started pushing out new suckers, flowering, and setting fruit all over again.

In the photo it’s in a 1.3 gal (5 L) pot, but you can definitely plant it in a raised bed too.

Quote from Svetikk:
Such a cute little baby, and so tasty 😋

Gorgeous… I never get mine to look that beautiful – that’s what happens when you have diligent, skilled hands!)

Svetik – you’re the tomato queen)

Grew two bushes, one in the greenhouse, one out in the dirt. The outdoor one fully ripened on the vine by August 10th. This variety is absolutely perfect for hanging baskets/pots. Very short, entirely smothered in tasty little fruits.

An update on the history of this variety:

My aunt, who strictly ordered me to grow this variety back in the day, was assigned to work in a Siberian village built by Belarusians who came during the Stolypin reforms to settle Siberia. She made a ton of friends there that lasted a lifetime. She told me how friendly, kind, and hardworking the people there were. They eagerly taught the young girl everything they knew and generously shared whatever they had, including seeds!

So most likely, Makovaya Rosinka and other varieties that were lost to time were brought over from Belarus by settlers. They came as huge families with massive amounts of luggage and tools to settle new lands, bringing seeds with them. And then my aunt shared those seeds with the Chinese exiles, who were master gardeners, and ended up growing horticultural masterpieces from our Russian seeds!

I just didn’t have the energy to completely clean out the greenhouse tomatoes this year. Picked the ripe Makovaya Rosinka off the bushes and decided I’d rip the plants out later when I had time. Came back on November 9th, and she’s more alive than ever. Over those two weeks, all the green ones on the bush ripened up, and the plant clearly has no plans of dying yet.

Quote from Podmoskvichka:
she’s more alive than ever

It’s an incredibly tough variety. Withstands freezes and even keeps building its root system.
One year we planted it out in the open garden in early May, covered it with row covers, and then a hard freeze rolled in and stayed for a week. We threw an extra layer of row cover over them, but I basically said goodbye to them… nope. They curled up, the leaves turned dark, but they stood their ground. We decided to dig them up and stick them in the corner of the greenhouse. When we dug them out, we saw that the buried parts of the stems had pushed out entirely new, beautiful root systems!

The absolute workhorse decided not to waste any time, and while it was freezing up top, it was busy building roots underground.

Only shame is that there aren’t quite enough fruits, wish it yielded slightly more)) Though to be fair, the bushes aren’t exactly Hercules)